Caught in His Net
by prtsrxmyNiceSox
Summary: When Hermione meets a mysterious stranger online, she's a bit leery at first. Who wouldn't be? But as she gets to know him she realizes.. there's something to him that she can't put her finger on. Sequel In Progress.
1. The Stranger

Note: This is my first attempt at a completely unreasonable impossible fanfic. It stars Hermione, and I understand that a lot of this will be stupidly silly. Oh, well, it's the thought that counts (or lack thereof).

Chapter 1

Hermione shut both of her closet doors tightly and turned to the racks of clothes. Behind a group of Hogwarts robes, she came to an ice rink blue painted wall. At about knee level was a makeshift desk (a shelving unit turned on its side) upon which sat a few books, her wand, various quills and parchment, and of course, her laptop.

She flipped the power switch on the side and heard the quiet hum of her hard drive booting up. Hermione was quite proud of her little black laptop. Sleek and understated, it was perfectly suited for her. It was light-weight and very thin and sported cd-rom and floppy disk drives. The computer had been a gift from her parents after she'd earned top marks on al her O.W.L.s. Hermione smiled as the tinkling noise told her that the computer was finished booting.

Hermione slid her finger across the flat pad which controlled the cursor. The tiny arrow flitted across the screen mimicking her finger's movements until it rested on an icon. She double-clicked a button and the icon lit up, opening her wireless internet hook-up. After a minute of screeching noises, she was connected.

A tiny monkey flitted across the screen, asking her if she wanted to win a new computer. She closed out its window and opened her e-mail inbox. She had two new messages. The first was a VISA card advert and the second was from Ppgsthewsl.

Hermione grinned as she saw Ginny's screen-name. Clicking the link, Hermione remembered when she'd set up the account for Gin and had to explain what 'Pop goes the weasel' meant. Hermione loved the play on words (weasel-Weasley).

The e-mail read:  
To: PattyCakeOtter

Hey Hermione!

Two weeks into break and Ron's gone to London to stay with Fred and George for a bit. Miss you loads already!! Found a chat site where we can chat until I get my messenger to work on this dang machine. The link is below. Let's meet around 4? In room: Hogwarts. That way we won't be interrupted by muggles. TTYL,  
Ginny

Hermione checked her watch: 3:22. She had a little over a half hour, but she wanted to check out the site and make sure it was safe. They'd be in deep trouble8 if any muggles intruded.

She clicked the link and went to the room Ginny had prescribed. The site was quite advanced, boasting "private rooms." The possibilities for chat were endless. You could change your font, colour, size, even highlight your text. There was a menu for smilies and even noises to go along with your messages. Hermione laughed out loud when she saw the tiny witch hat on one of the smilies. Then, the site made a pinging noise that told her a new member was entering the room. She expected to see Ppgsthewsl appear underneath PattyCakeOtter, but instead a strange name appeared: JaketheSnake...


	2. Meeting him

Instead, a strange name appeared: JaketheSnake..."

Hermione frowned as a message appeared on the screen:

JaketheSnake: Hey!

Hermione had little time to think of a response before another message followed:

JaketheSnake: ASL?

She, on a whim, answered.

PattyCakeOtter: 17/f/Bristol, you?  
JaketheSnake: 17/m/London  
PattyCakeOtter: Nice to meet you.  
PattyCakeOtter: what brings you to this room?  
JaketheSnake: just a random name, surfing. Guess I picked a good one, eh?  
PattyCakeOtter: That all depends.  
JaketheSnake: On?  
PattyCakeOtter: What you were looking for.  
JaketheSnake: Indeed. I found someone to talk to, so I'm no worse off by it.  
PattyCakeOtter: True.  
JaketheSnake: So, tell me about yourself.  
PattyCakeOtter: i.e.?  
JaketheSnake: what's the one thing you're most passionate about?  
PattyCakeOtter: My studies.  
PattyCakeOtter: And my friends.  
JaketheSnake: So you're in school? Me too.  
JaketheSnake: Quite boring place, really. Compared to my everyday life.  
PattyCakeOtter: Why's that?  
JaketheSnake: Most of the things I'm taught, I could learn in the library at my home.  
PattyCakeOtter: you have a library?  
JaketheSnake: you caught me...  
JaketheSnake: I have two.  
PattyCakeOtter:o ! I love reading.  
JaketheSnake: It's one of my favourite hobbies, when I'm not flying.

Hermione leaned forward to the screen to be sure she'd read that right. Flying? Was Jake a wizard?

Another message appeared:  
JaketheSnake: my kite that is.  
PattyCakeOtter: oh.  
JaketheSnake: Where's your school located?  
PattyCakeOtter: I'd tell you...  
PattyCakeOtter: but I'd have to kill you.  
JaketheSnake: You're not a spy, are you? LOL.  
PattyCakeOtter: LOL. Nah, just have a lot of time on my hands.  
JaketheSnake: Wish I did. I've got a lesson, so I'll have to go now. What's your E? I'd like to chat again.  
PattyCakeOtter:  
PattyCakeOtter: What kind of lesson?  
JaketheSnake: I'd tell you,  
JaketheSnake: But I'd have to kill you!

The pinging noise rang out of the tiny speakers and Hermione was alone once more. She sat, staring at the screen for a few moments, thinking. That Jake kid was weird. Funny, yet a little odd. Hermione wondered if he were a Hogwarts student or a muggle with good hacking skills. _I mean.. Who would have guessed 'Hogwarts'?_ she reasoned with herself. It wasn't that common of a phrase.

Hermione's reverie did not last long, however, as her computer pinged again and Ppgsthewsl was added to the room occupants list.

Ppgsthewsl: hey 'Mione!  
PattyCakeOtter: hey Gin.  
PattyCakeOtter: Odd thing, some guy named JaketheSnake was just in here.  
Ppgsthewsl: Really? Was he a wizard?  
PattyCakeOtter: Not sure. I'll try to drop subtle hints if he comes back.  
Ppgsthewsl: k. How's stuff?

A rambling conversation ensued, but Hermione's mind was still on JaketheSnake. She wanted to know more...


	3. Biscuits all around

The next day, Hermione was eating a biscuit at her kitchen table while she pondered this Jake character. Who was he anyway? Somehow his words usage seemed almost familiar. He almost sounded like he was… she couldn't think of the word. Misunderstood, perhaps? She couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"And they call it puppy love."

Hermione was jolted out of her thoughts at the sound of her parents' singing voices. They were teasing her, she knew. They always thought she was thinking about Harry or Ron. As if she would date one of THEM. It wasn't that they weren't attractive, it was just that they were like brothers to her.

Her parents kept singing until she held her hands over her ears and yelled, "No! Stop the madness!" at the top of her lungs. That always worked. She knew just how her parents operated. When they ceased their melodious conquest, she said, "What? I wasn't even talking about Harry or Ron!"

"Well," replied her mother. "You've got that look in your eyes. The one that you get every time we got to see a Ben Affleck movie."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, mother.." She stood and took a couple more biscuits and started back to her room.

"You've lost that lovin' feeling,.. whoa-oh that loving feeling." her parents crooned, as her father waltzed her mother around the kitchen. Hermione loved how her parents were completely and totally in love with each other all the time. It was sweet. It also made Hermione wonder if she'd ever have a relationship like theirs. Rock solid. Dependable.

While she walked up the stairs she called back down to them, "Don't you have teeth to pull somewhere?" jokingly. She loved her parents to death and would never be able to stand it if she lost either of them.

Hermione ended up back in her closet later that evening, and found herself logging onto the chat room again. She felt some sort of glimmer… the tiniest bit of hope that Jake would be on and she could talk to him. As she opened the chat room window, however, she was saddened slightly to find the 'room occupants' list empty. With a sigh, she moved her cursor to the little black X in the top right hand corner of the screen. Just before she clicked it, a pinging noise exploded out of the tinny speakers in her laptop causing her to scream in fright.

She'd left the volume up. WAY up. Hermione fixed the volume and realized that that sound was the sound of JaketheSnake entering the chat room. Her heart jumped as she saw his first message.

JaketheSnake: Hey there.

Hermione read the message and without a single hesitation, she decided not to beat around the bush anymore.

PattyCakeOtter: Are you a muggle?

Hermione waited with bated breath as her message appeared on the screen. She knew that if he asked what she meant, that he was a muggle, but if he responded no, that he was a wizard.

A message appeared.

JaketheSnake: Some welcome.. and no.

Hermione could have kissed the computer screen. He was a wizard! Score! She realized that she'd been pumping her fist in the air like some heathen at a Quidditch match and stopped immediately. With a relieved sigh, she began typing.

PattyCakeOtter: Whew.. I thought you might've been a muggle.  
JaketheSnake: Why else would I be in the Hogwarts chatroom?  
PattycakeOtter: Er...  
PattyCakeOtter: So, you go to Hogwarts, then?  
JaketheSnake: Maybe, Or maybe I just wanted some pureblooded companionship and I've been searching all the school names for someone, anyone to talk to.

Hermione felt the blood rise into her face. He thought she was a pureblood! Well, no sense in telling him otherwise...

PattyCakeOtter: Cut it out.  
JaketheSnake: Caught me again, I suppose.

Hermione was about to type in the question "What house are you in" when suddenly her own querie was bounced back to her.

JaketheSnake: What house are you in, anyway?  
PattyCakeOtter: Gryffindor

There was a long pause then. Hermione wondered if it was because of her response or because he'd wandered off to get some food or something. After a moment, she broke the silence.

PattyCakeOtter: Anyone home?  
JaketheSnake: Sorry, I…  
JaketheSnake: Had to go get a biscuit.

Hermione could sense a lie, but let it drop.

PattyCakeOtter: I just ate a biscuit or two. What flavor?  
JaketheSnake: Chocolate chip.  
PattyCakeOtter: Sugar.  
JaketheSnake: I never did like sugared ones. Way too...  
PattyCakeOtter: Sweet?

Hermione had to smile.

JaketheSnake: Sure.  
PattyCakeOtter: What house are YOU in?  
JaketheSnake: Well, you probably won't be too happy with me if I tell you.  
Hermione frowned. No, not..  
JaketheSnake: Slytherin.  
PattyCakeOtter; So, I guess there's no chance of this going anywhere, huh?  
JaketheSnake: You know how we are...  
JaketheSnake: very driven by our families, us Slytherins.  
PattyCakeOtter: Well, I have to be going, I've got appointment.  
JaketheSnake: What kind?

Hermione thought for a moment of a viable excuse.

PattyCakeOtter: Dentists.

And with that, she signed off, but in the delay, one more message slipped through:

JaketheSnake: I'll email you.


	4. News

Chapter 4

Hermione shut her laptop with a decisive snap. A Slytherin? She couldn't believe it! That was like.. Wow. She was having some serious issues with the whole thing. She had actually been interested in getting to know this guy. He seemed truly cryptic, intellectual, amazing, mysterious, and, well, different, to say the least. It wasn't just the way they'd met, it was his tone when he wrote to her. It was like he and her shared a little secret that was just theirs. It wasn't a big thing, just something tiny that she could hold in her hand and cuddle and cling to. It was like a ray of sunshine splitting through the dark clouds just after a storm. But now, she felt like that hole had closed and the rain was coming once more. She felt almost trapped… like she'd been denied a real treat. She'd had a taste of what he was like and all she wanted was to know more, yet, she was barred from him. Locked away, with no chance of retrieving the key. She felt...

"Trapped," said Hermione softly, opening the door to her closet. She needed to get out of there. Maybe there wasn't enough oxygen or something in there. After all, she was thinking so passionately about a guy she'd only talked to twice! This was insanity! Hermione released the handle with one shaking hand and soothed her hair before taking a step into her bedroom.

Just as her sandal hit the floor, her computer called out to her.

"You've got mail!" said the robotic voice with some kind of mechanical excitement, as if it cared whether Hermione had mail or not.

She turned and looked at the laptop. It glinted at her, innocently, as if inviting her to place her fingers on its cool, sleek keyboard once more. It was reaching out to her. She could never resist an unopened email! Sitting once more at her white, makeshift desk, Hermione opened the laptop. Pulling open her inbox window, she saw a blinking number '1' next to the word messages. She slid her finger across the pad and her cursor moved with her. It hesitated over the link, and then...

A loud knocking sound came at her bedroom door, a wall away. It still held enough volume to shake Hermione out of her sluggish motion. She sprang up and jolted into her bedroom, landing on her bed. The pink comforter squished underneath her while the canopy overhead shaded her face and shoulders.

"Come in!" she called, trying to sound casual.

Hermione's door creaked open ominously. For a moment, she felt something ill in her heart, like a shadow passing over the moon. But in a moment, the feeling was gone, and her mother's face was smiling at her from the door.

"Hi, Mum," smiled Hermione, relaxing a bit. A shaft of sunlight filtered through the window and landed on her mother's face, causing her to squint in an unladylike fashion.

Mrs. Granger took a seat on Hermione's bed and watched her daughter for a moment. Hermione fidgeted a little, slightly uncomfortable of the way her mother was staring at her.

Hermione tried again, to get her mother to speak to her, "What is it?" she said, with the faintest shadow of a laugh.

"Well..." began Mrs. Granger, "Dear, your father and I," she gestured to her father who had appeared in the doorway, "Have some news for you."

Hermione tried to smile, "Good news or bad?" she asked warily.

"Oh, well we think it's good." her mother said with a smile.

Mr. Granger spoke up, "What your mother is trying to say is, that I've been offered to be the head of my own practice. Your mother and I both, really. We're going to be partners."

"Isn't that wonderful?" asked Mrs. Granger with that same forced smile.

Hermione tried to grin, but the motion seemed to stretch her cheeks and lips in ways they shouldn't have been stretching. Everything seemed in slow motion now. Somehow, she had a feeling of... dread.

"The only catch is.." continued Mrs. Granger lightly, trailing off.

"We're going to have to move," finished her father. In the voice that Hermione had always found comforting and strong, she could hear the tiniest quiver of uncertainty.

Hermione could tell he was nervous at how she would take the news. She didn't answer at first, but instead, traced her finger along the bedpost that helped hold up the canopy. Hermione remembered all the wonderful times she'd had in this room. All the great adventures she'd had in the woodsy back yard. This place had always been her sanctuary, more than any library or classroom could be. Yes, she loved those places too, but she'd never known any other home but this.

Hermione remembered when her parents had bought her this grandiose oak bed. At age ten, she'd thought that it was a dream bed, her castle and she the princess. It still held that magic splendor. She thought about the post as she sat and realized that this thin piece of ornately carved wood was the only thing between them and the canopy falling down upon them. Hermione thought about how this little post, did so much to hold the heavy pink fabric up day in and day out. She had to be that post. She had to keep her parents' sky from falling down on them. As much as she hated the thought of leaving her childhood home, Hermione knew that as long as she was with her parents, they could live in the street and call it home.

"Well," started Hermione. "What are we waiting for?" she asked with a slight shrug and an enthusiastic smile.

Mrs. Granger's eyes brightened and she hugged her daughter close. Wrapped in her mother's embrace, Hermione breathed deep. Her mother smelled as always like the condiments she'd put in her morning coffee, cream and cinnamon. That scent brought back a rush of blissful memories. Baking in the kitchen, doing homework by the fire, watching programs on the telly, her parents had always been there. She was sure that their decision to move would be for the best. With a suddenly bright outlook, Hermione looked into her father's eyes, a real smile lighting up her cheeks.

"That's wonderful, baby." he said, using his pet name for her. This only made Hermione grinned wider. She didn't care where they were going, and she'd never look back.


	5. An owl

Hermione and her parents spent all afternoon planning. She learned they were moving to London! Well, just outside of it, to be exact. It was a little town called Effington. Hermione was sure she'd heard the name of it before, but couldn't quite recall why. Brushing it out of her mind, she dove head first into the preparations with her parents.

They planned to move in a week. That would give them two weeks to get their things unpacked and to get settled in before Hermione left for Hogwarts.

"Ooh, I'll be closer to King's Cross than before," said an excited Hermione to her mother that evening. "Then we won't be driving for an hour beforehand." she said with a slight laugh.

Her father always complained about the commute to King's Cross, but when it was time for them to drop off Hermione to the train, he always said he'd wish it were longer. Her parents truly loved Hermione, and they wanted the best for her.

"We've already thought of that, Hermione." smiled her mother going through a list of furniture that they would be leaving behind. They were moving into a house that had been provided by the owners of the company who employed her parents. They, apparently, were very good dentists, so they'd been given a re-furnished home to move into free of cost.

"I still can't believe they've already bought our house and all," said Hermione. She was amazed at the great lengths this company was going through to take care of the Grangers with their move. "What's it look like?" she asked excitedly.

"Oh, I think you'll like it," said her father with a smile. He handed her a piece of printer paper. "Here's the email they sent us. The link is one there so you can check it out later."

Hermione stood up. "Oh I think I'll check it out now, Daddy." she said, kissing him on the cheek.

Hermione dashed up the stairs and into her closet where the laptop was stowed. Feeling the heat of the closet, she realized that she'd left her laptop on all afternoon! "Fudge..." she muttered softly. She turned the warm, slightly damp doorknob to that led to her bedroom and wiped her forehead quickly. She hadn't realized how much heat the machine gave off until now.

Sitting on the bed, Hermione opened it, and found it just as she had left it so many hours ago. The cursor was waiting for her click to check the email she'd received. but now, the number had changed to three!

Hermione opened the newest, which was from Ginny. It explained that she wouldn't be online for a while because she and her family were taking a trip to see Charlie in London. Mr. Weasley had gotten a rather large raise for working extra hours during all the inquisitions at the Ministry following the last sighting of Lord Voldemort. They would stay in London until September first and she hoped to see Hermione there.

Hermione wrote back, telling Ginny the news of her move and where she was going and so on. She even typed in the link so Ginny could see their new house, though Hermione hadn't even seen it herself.

Clicking the send button, Hermione's eyes checked the sender name on the next message. Spam. She trashed it and opened the last message.

From: Jakethesnake

It was from the Slytherin boy. She had come to calling him Jake in her mind, but she doubted that was his name. It was probably like Mateus or Shawn.. She could imagine names for him all day long. He seemed so.. un-Slytherin-like. So noble, and funny! Hermione realized she was getting distracted, and went back to reading the email.

Dear PattyCake (I don't even know your real name yet!)

Did I offend you earlier when I told you my house? I noticed you got off pretty quickly afterwards. I'm sorry if I did. Wow, look at me, apologizing to a girl I don't even know. Course, getting me to apologize to anyone is a pretty damn hard thing. Guess you're the first.

Anyway, I feel bad about offending you. I'm afraid that no one would forgive us if we became friends, you being a lioness and I a snake. They'll never understand, will they?

Point is, I'm going to be in Diagon Alley for the last two days of break. Say we meet at Flourish and Blotts on the 31st at... noonish? We could have lunch or something. I'd like to meet you, as you sound loads more interesting than my usual friends. Dung for brains they have. So, if you're coming in to London, let me know? I live just outside of it, but I'll be staying at the Leaky Cauldron for those two days to do some shopping.

can't wait to see you.

The email just ended there. No name, no nothing! Hermione felt extremely gypped. She had hoped to find out a bit more about him. Of course, they'd have time to do that once she met him, right?

Hermione realized she was spacing out again, and picked up the printed copy of the email her father had gotten from his company. She typed the link in her browser and slid the cursor over the 'go' button. Clicking it, the teensy arrow turned into an hourglass. She watched the hour glass fill, then turn over nine times before the page was fully loaded. The title at the top read, "Your dream house awaits you, Heath Granger!" It was obvious that his name had been dubbed in as it was smaller and a different color than the rest of the text.

Hermione's hand shook slightly as she moved the cursor over the scrollbar on the right hand side of the screen. She was about to see her new house! As she tentatively started to scroll, a knock came at the window.

Hermione sighed and looked over. The Weasley family's owl, Errol, was tapping on her window. Smiling, she let it in and relieved it of the scroll that was tied to its right talon. She kissed it lightly on the head and set him on the ledge of her window. He wouldn't fly out, so she supposed he was told to wait for a response.

The letter was from Ron, and it said nearly the same as Ginny's e-mail had said. "Ah the miracles of modern technology," remarked Hermione chuckling lightly. A light tapping noise pulled her away from the letter and she saw Errol dancing on her keyboard, hooting happily.

Hermione laughed and pulled the silly bird off of her laptop and scribbled a response.

Ron,

Already recieved word from Ginny. I might be coming in to London near the end of break, but for now I have alot to do with moving into the new house.

See you soon!

Love,  
Hermione

P.S.: Your bird's gone quite insane, just thought you should know!

Sending Errol on his way, Hermione glanced at her computer.

"Guess someone doesn't want me to see that website," she muttered lightly, turning off the computer.

She heard her mother call her down for dinner and didn't give the website another thought.


	6. A Change

Hermione's week sped by quickly, in a flurry of planning and preparations. She was mildly surprised when Saturday rolled around and the sounds of a moving truck woke her from a deep sleep. As she lay in bed, Hermione thought about what this day meant. She was moving out of the house she had grown up in, the only house she'd ever known. That didn't just happen every day.

Hermione stood up and stretched a little. Then, she walked over to her armoire and picked out an elastic band from her caboodles box. Tying up her bushy brown hair in a ponytail at the top of her head, Hermione looked at herself in the full-length mirror. She looked a sight! her hair was clearly the best part of her.. ensemble. She still wore her pink pajamas with little yellow stars on them and there was a red mark on her cheek from where she'd slept on her hand. Laughing, Hermione ran her fingers through her ponytail pensively. This move was oging to change everything for their family. She decided it was time to make some changes of her own.

Hermione quickly dressed in a pair of denim capris and a green t-shirt. She slipped on her sneakers and headed downstairs. Once in the foyer, she peeked out the front door, which was standing wide open. The moving van was pulled up in front of her house, off to the right side of her driveway. Hermione smiled. At least they hadn't blocked the driveway. She swung around the end of the banister and went into the kitchen. She strode right up to the key box and plucked out the spare keys to her parents' volvo. The silly key box chirped like it always did. She grimaced. Hermione had no idea why she'd bought that silly key box for her mother two Christmases ago. It didn't help her remember where her keys were!

_Well,_ she thought with a laugh, At least no one can steal her keys with this chirping thing. Hermione grinned. Anytime someone tried to remove the keys, the box would chirp wildly, each time like a different wild bird.

"Hermione?" Mrs. Granger's voice floated into the kitchen and her body followed not too far after.

"Oh, hey mum," Hermione said, in an almost imperceptibly quavering voice. She wasn't too fond of letting her mother know exactly what she planned to do this morning, but she had decided a long time ago not to lie to her, no matter what.

"Are you going out, dear?" her mother asked, smiling.

"Oh, yes, I just… wanted to stay out of your way is all." she replied.

To Hermione's surprise, Mrs. Granger gave her a knowing smile and put her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "I understand."

"You do?" she asked.

"Yes," replied her mother. "You'll miss this old house, won't you? I will, too. You can go ahead and go out. We'll make sure all your things get into the truck."

Hermione smiled widely, and jingled the keys in her hand slightly. "Thanks, mum. I'll be back in a bit."

Hermione's mother kissed her daughter on the head and waved her out the door.

Hermione walked out her front door and down the walk to her driveway. Smiling at her father who was talking to one of the movers, she stepped over a flat of boxes and arrived next to her parents' silver volvo. She pressed a button on the keyring and the doors opened with a satisfying -click-. She wrapped her fingers around the cool door handle and opened it. Slipping into the driver's seat, she closed the door behind her. After readjusting her mirrors, the seat, and the steering wheel for her height, She slid the key into the ignition and turned it.

The ignition turned over and being humming. Hermione let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. She always got a bit nervous behind the wheel of a car. She had gotten her license a year before, but staying at Hogwarts nearly all year didn't give her much time for driving experience.

Hermione drove cautiously along the streets, thinking about the coming year. Everything was changing and all she had left was one year before being out, on her own. She thought about the job she might have when she got older. She'd seriously considered becoming a healer at St. Mungos. Then again, she knew Harry and Ron were eager to try to become aurors. She'd heard that auror training was very hard, but she wouldn't mind a couple extra years of schooling to become such a highly respected person as the ministry's auror's are. of course, there was plenty of danger involved, but when she thought about it, harry had gotten her into more dangerous situations than she could count on one hand.

Hermione paused at a red light. This was the crossroads of her town. That was where she was in her life. At a crossroads. Soon she'd be out of school and ready to face the world.

She took a left turn and pulled into a parking lot. She parked her parents' silver volvo in the spot and opened the door. She stepped out of the car, locked it and went inside the door in front of her. It was time for a change...

An hour and ten minutes later, Hermione walked out of the building. She waved over her shoulder to the woman who watched her leave through the window. The woman's face was framed by the letter 'O' that was stenciled on the window. As Hermione pulled out, she saw the store front through her rear view mirror: NOLAS RIAH S'ANIT.

When she arrived back home, Hermione took a moment to prepare before going into the house. She had taken a detour to the local mall after leaving her first stop and was now wearing a new outfit. She had made a complete change.

Hermione stepped out of the car and shut the door behind her. Immediately, she felt like wrenching the door open and getting back in. She could feel everyone of the movers turn and stare at her. Even a few of the female ones. She tossed her new hairstyle over her shoulder and pretended not to notice. Now was the time for the ultimate test: her parents.

Hermione pushed open the front door. It had been left open for the movers to go in and out freely. She walked into the foyer and was shocked. There was not a piece of furniture left in the house. The only thing she could see was a mirror hanging over the place where their Bombay Chest had stood. The mirror had come with the house when her parents had bought it and so would they leave it to the next homeowner. It was somewhat of a tradition to leave a simple remembrance of the previous owners in an old Victorian house like this.

Hermione caught a glimpse of someone in the mirror and turned to see who was standing behind her. No one there. Hermione turned around again and made eye contact with the girl in the mirror. Her hair was much shorter than Hermione's reaching only the top of her shoulders. It couldn't have been Hermione's hair because it was much smoother and had been painstakingly straightened and highlighted ever so faintly. The girl in the mirror wore an outfit Hermione would never. The shirt was slightly low cut, sleeveless and pink. The skirt was even more scandalous as it fell above her knees! Hermione recognized the outfit and realized.. it was her reflection.

:"Her...mione?"


	7. Memories

Hermione took a deep breath and turned to face her father, who had just stepped into the foyer.

"Hi, Daddy." she said with a nervous smile. She suddenly felt completely and utterly self-conscious and nervous beyond wits' end. Her heart was thumping wildly and she began twisting her hands behind her.

"When did this happen?" her father asked. But to Hermione's surprise, he seemed mildly surprised, yet pleased.

"Just today," she replied with a tiny apologetic smile.

"Well," he said, contemplatively. "I like it."

Hermione just smiled and hugged him. She still had to face her mother.

"My little girl's growing up." went on Dr. Granger. "I remember when you were only knee high to a grasshopper. You used to toddle around the house like a little kitten..." he went on reminiscing for quite sometime until Hermione's mother happened by the foyer.

Hermione tried for her best winning smile.

Mrs. Granger started to say to her husband, "Now Shane, you know that.." but she seemed to notice Hermione halfway through. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Our little girl's growing up!" she said, with a stream of happy ears.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You guys are such bad actors." she said with a laugh.

"We try," replied her father, laughing as well.

Hermione suddenly had a thought. "Oh no, did you let them pack my-"

"Laptop? Journal? Mr. Skoodles?" interrupted her mother.

"Mum.." said Hermione, looking around. "I haven't slept with Mr. Skoodles since like-"

"Last night." interjected her father with a smug little grin.

"Fine, you win. Where are they?" she asked slightly perturbed.

"On the kitchen counter, dear." replied her mother.

Hermione grabbed her things off the kitchen counter and went to take them to their car so she wouldn't forget. Once outside, she placed the laptop, and her black leather journal on the backseat. Then, she looked at Mr. Skoodles fondly.

"Well, Mr. Skoodles," she said to the weathered bear. "We've been through it all together, haven't we?" She looked into his beady little eyes for a moment, then went on. "I couldn't bear to let them put you in a stuffy old box."

She grinned at her own pun, and hugged the corduroy bear tightly against her. Hermione walked across the driveway and into the cool, soft, grass. It was a bright jade color that reminded her of the first time she'd seen the grass covered with dew one morning.

_A little toddler ran out of the front door and onto the grass, barefoot. She squealed in delight when she realized her feet were wet. She fell on her bottom lightly and grabbed a handful of grass. She was just about to stick it in her mouth when a large, soft hand grabbed her own. _

_"Now, Hermione" said her mother's voice. "You can't eat grass... Do you know what this is?" she asked the 5 year old gently. _

_Hermione shook her head. _

_"Why, this is dew!" replied her mother, sitting down. She placed the child on her lap. "At night time, faeries come down to the earth from the sky and put their magic on all the plants down here. They put it on the trees and the grass and the bushes. Then, when the sun comes up, the world is full of magic and glitter and beauty." _

_The little girl's eyes lit up. "Really, Mommy?" she squealed with glee. _

_"Yes," replied her mother gravely. "But you can never see them." _

_"Why?" asked little Hermione with wide eyes. _

_"Because," whispered her mother. "They're no bigger than this little freckle on your nose." she finished, touching the tip of her daughter's nose lightly. _

_Hermione smiled and hugged her mum. "I'll never tell anyone." she whispered softly, her eyes full of wonder and amazement. _

Hermione smiled as she remembered all the good times she'd had in this yard, in this house. she stepped into the shade of the big oak tree and sat on the wooden swing that had been there as long as she could remember.

_Hermione was 10 years old and her father was pushing her high on the swing. It was autumn, and Hermione was sure that if she could just swing a bit higher, she could touch the sky. With the leaves falling, she could see the pale blue in the distance, and for once, it didn't seem so far away. _

_"Higher!" she called back to her father with glee. "Higher!" _

_Her father pushed her again, not terribly high, but still with a comforting strength. _

_Hermione reached out and grabbed a handful of leaves, then laughed as she let them go from her fist. She watched them flutter down silently, one by one. Then came a gust of wind, and the tree began to shake. Hermione screamed a little scream and her father caught the swing with ease the next time it came down. _

_Once she was safe and sound on the grass below, she looked up into the huge oak tree. Leaves had suddenly begun to fall, disrupted by the gusting wind. She was caught up in a swirl of color. Brown leaves that matched her eyes. Leaves as crimson as though they'd been stained in blood. Yellow sheaves that were bright as the sun. _

_She twirled and danced until she could do so no more, and fell in the grass laughing. She stared up as the rainbow leaves fell from the sky. Suddenly, one landed on her face. She had touched the sky after all. But it turned out she hadn't needed to go get it; it had come to her. _

Hermione wiped a solitary tear from her cheek, and heard her father's voice calling her from next to the silver volvo. She turned and saw him waving at her from the car, as if to tell her they were ready. She could see her mother's silhouette inside the car, and Hermione knew that the older woman was watching her.

Then, a leaf fell. Not a red or gold or brown one, but a green one. It was like a new beginning. She caught the leaf and stood from the swing.

With one last glance at her childhood home, Hermione got into the car, and they drove away.


	8. Golden Oldies

Hermione was silent during the two hour car ride. Her parents chatted in the front a bit while a soft rock station played in the background. Hermione was simply sitting, and thinking. She watched the scenery roll by, like a moving picture show. Everything was going on without her.

When she tired of counting the cows on her side of the road, Hermione picked up her laptop. Mentally thanking whoever came up with wireless internet, she opened the latch on the front of the machine and tapped the power button. As the computer booted up, Hermione heard a noise from the front seat that she always dreaded slightly on road trips: The first bars of "I got you babe" started playing on the radio.

Hermione heard a squeal from her mother before the vocals began. Of course, her parents had to sing along.

"They say we're young and we don't know, We won't find out until we grow " sang Mrs. Granger.

"Well I don't know if all that's true, 'Cause you got me, and baby I got you " replied her father's tenor voice.

Their voices blended together as the chorus began. "I got you babe- sing with us Hermione- I got you babe I got you babe I got you babe I got you babe."

Hermione grinned and joined in the song for the last minute or so. Then, she turned her attention back to her computer. She fiddled around with the mouse for a few moments, then changed her background picture to a cloudy sky. She liked it because it reminded her of the great breath before the storm. The clouds lurked tempestuously on the horizon, as if just waiting for their cue to strike and wreak havoc upon the unsuspecting humans below. Hermione felt like one of their victims. She knew something was coming, but not exactly what it would be like. She had a gnawing feeling in the pit of her stomach. She supposed that she was just nervous about moving, and seeing the new house.

Just before they left, Hermione had checked her email, but she didn't have anything new. She re-read Jake's last message, just to remind herself of when he wanted to meet her. She realized that he hadn't suggested a spot for them to meet in the alley. She wrote him a short note mentioning that although she was in the process of moving, she'd be glad to meet on the day before school at Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor.

Smiling, she remembered the note and the meeting ahead of her. Hermione decided to talk to her parents about going into London.

"Hey, mum, daddy, what do you say I go to London for two days before school starts? I could take care of my shopping and the Weasley's have offered to let me ride with them to King's Cross."

Her mother smiled back at her and said, "I think we can arrange that. Mr. Weasley is such a nice fellow. And his son, Ronald, he's so cute."

Hermione's dad winked at Hermione in the rearview mirror, however Hermione cringed. "Mum, Dad, will you please stop trying to get me to date one of my two best guy friends?" she asked exasperatedly. "They're like brothers to me!" She rolled her eyes, and went back to looking out the window.


	9. Part 2 Begins

Part Deux…

Draco Malfoy scowled menacingly. For once, the people it was conveyed toward did not, in fact, run away crying. Having not received the proper response, Draco sighed heavily and turned towards the train window. He wouldn't be here if it weren't for Harry Potter.

Draco's life had suddenly taken a turn for the worse at the end of his sixth year. First, his father had died. His death was honorable, killed fighting by Lord Voldemort's side. At least, that's what all the family acquaintances had said at the short, concise funeral. That's the way Lucius would have wanted it. Simple, expensive, yet formal. Only about a hundred guests were there and the funeral lasted for a half hour. Then, the guests went back to the manor and partied for half the night.

This was the part that bothered Draco. His father was dead, and they were downstairs living it up. But then again, that was what normally happened at Malfoy Manor. Parties, balls, meetings. All involved a lot of company and a lot of alcohol. The only times alcohol was in short supply were the parties they'd held for Draco. Of course, the party was really for his parents, but they called them Draco's and that was well enough. Draco wasn't much for extravagant balls and the like. Especially not ones like these, where Lucius and Narcissa simply were searching for someone to marry Draco.

Arranged marriages were not in short supply as far as the Malfoy bloodline went. Lucius and Narcissa's wedding was by far one of the more powerful made marriages, having mixed two potent bloodlines. and the offspring was Draco, making him one of the most well respected young adults in the pure-blooded community.

After Lucius's death, Narcissa changed. As Draco's sixth year passed, she became more volatile, and sank into depression. Wrought with grief, she took her life on Christmas Eve. When Draco came home from school, he found her dead, in the parlor, with their newest installment, Plumpy the house-elf watching her dopily. In her hand was a long thin knife, drenched in blood. Draco leaned down and touched his mother's face. Only then, so close, did he notice her other arm. A deep gash lay length-wise upon it, congealed blood around the wound and staining the carpet nearby. Her face had an almost, apologetic look to it, as though she had realized her mistake too little too late.

Draco remembered all these things, as the sleek train sped on, away from the sunrise. He recalled going back to Hogwarts after break, having spent Christmas with his mother's dead body. He'd pretended she was still there. Just resting. Always resting. The apologetic glances had come for the first week or so, then people sank back into normality, forgetting about Draco's unfortunate family.

Losing a loved one is always trying, but Draco lost two within a year. He knew that once the year at Hogwarts was over, he'd have nowhere to go to, and he'd done something unprecedented in his history.

Draco asked Dumbledore for help.

Dumbledore, having a commitment to all his students, helped Draco locate a family member to live with for the summer, just until he turned eighteen and could live on his own. Draco knew that Dumbledore was too soft to leave him with a family filled with known Death-Eaters, and he was right. The headmaster sent Draco to live with his Great Aunt Ethelridge. Now, he sat on the Hogwarts express as it pulled into King's Cross Station.

He looked out the window and tried to glimpse his Great Aunt. He vaguely remembered meeting her when he was younger, but she might have changed a thousand ways by then.

She hadn't.

Draco sighed slightly as the thin, frail woman came rushing over toward him.

"Draco, darling!" she squealed in an unhealthy voice. "It's been ages and ages darling. How are your parents?"

Draco gave the woman a most unfathomable look. "They're dead." he replied coldly.

"Oh that's right! I'd forgotten dear," replied Aunt Ethelrdige. Draco could tell that her mind was on a million other things then. She was probably thinking of what kinds of biscuits to serve with tea.

Rolling his eyes, Draco piled his things onto his trolley and looked around for the house elf. Seeing no such creature, he asked snottily, "Where's your elf?"

"Oh," said his aunt with a little giggle and a smile. "We don't keep an elf at our house, dear. We had one once, but he kept wandering outside and the neighbors started to ask questions. They're muggles, of course."

Draco's face filled with disgust and indignation. "You're forcing me to live in a.. muggle-ridden town?" he asked with a look of utmost distaste on his face.

Great Aunt Ethelridge smiled. "Dear," she began. "You don't think they'd let a squib live in a wizarding town, do you?"


	10. A New Arrival

Author's Note: well, a reviewer asked me to post an explanation of their screennames, so here goes. Hermione is 'PattyCakeOtter.' Hermione's Patronus is an Otter, and Patronus whares a first three letters with 'patty cake.' A great, incognito s/n, huh? Draco's is actually "JaketheSnake.' Snake being his Slytherin ties, and Jake rhymes with snake and Drake, which is short for Draco. I figured this would give him some anonynimity so Hermy wouldn't put that brilliant mind to work and immediately see through him.

Chapter 10

As the summer drudged along mercilessly, Draco began to bore of sitting around reading. Of course, there wasn't much else to do in his Aunt's house. She had two entire rooms filled with books! He adored reading, that was true. And it wasn't like he could go flying or concoct some evil potion to use on the cat (though he would have loved to see Mr. Whiskas with pink polka dots). Here, he had to be all inconspicuous about his magic. He couldn't wait to get out of the stupid muggle town and back to Hogwarts. Once he was done with school, he'd be eighteen and legally on his own.

Draco got up from the large ivory arm chair and strode purposely out of the room. His aunt barely glanced up from her knitting.

Great Aunt Ethelridge had been hoping that he wouldn't simply sit there, holed up with a book all day. He seemed like such a nice kid, if he were just a bit more social. Then again, his parents weren't the nicest people on the planet when they were alive, so there was no reason he should be any better. She shrugged, and went back to her knitting, quietly.

Draco, searched every room that day, looking for some sort of entertainment. And when he found it… he knew he'd hit the jackpot.

The day Draco found the computer in a dusty room in his Great Aunt Ethelridge's house was the first day of what would become a surprisingly enjoyable summer. He read all the manuals he could find and, by the end of July had it hooked up and ready to go. After a bit more reading in his aunt's two libraries, he figured out how to hook it up to the internet.

Draco sat down in front of the computer one day and decided to search for Hogwarts in a search engine. He got exactly one link. That was the day he found the Hogwarts chat room. There he met a girl who went by the pseudonym PattyCakeOtter.

Over the next week, he came to know her as a soon to be 7th year Gryffindor. They had already established that their friendship would never amount to anything, because of their different houses, but Draco had offered to meet her in Diagon Alley anyway. They would meet at the ice cream shop a day before the trip back to school. Draco knew how foolish it was to meet someone he'd only known online, but somehow, she seemed familiar to him. It wasn't like she was a stranger at all. And he felt like he should know what her screenname meant. It was there, at the edge of his mind, but he just couldn't grasp it.

Pretty soon the summer had whittled down to a mere two weeks. Draco had heard nothing from PattyCakeOtter in days. The last thing she'd sent to him was an email accepting his proposition to meet. Draco began feeling moody at having been ignored for days. What was she doing that was so important?

Now, Draco sat next to a window that faced the empty house next door. He leaned his chin upon his right palm. His elbow lay against the red armrest on the armchair. He was completely and utterly bored. He watched as a flock of birds took wing outside his window, and wondered what sound or sight may have scared them off. He leaned toward the window, interested, and saw a moving truck, rolling down the road. It was fairly large and white with the words, "We Move 4 Less" on the side.

Draco watched the truck pull into the driveway of the abandoned house next door. He could imagine the sound of the gravel hitting the underside of the truck as it made its way up the drive. As the truck screeched to a stop, the front bumper tapped a gargoyle-like statue, knocking it over.

Draco snickered, and opened the window a crack to hear the stupid driver be reprimanded. No such sounds came. "How disappointing," muttered Draco, as he watched the movers hop out of the cab of the truck.

They all seemed quite in awe of the house they had just pulled up to. A few shielded their eyes from the sun as they looked up to the rooftop.

"Silly commoners." muttered Draco, but he could see why they might be slightly intimidated. It was a large, gothic house, nearly the size of Draco's own old manor. He missed it, and was thinking of his old home when a beat up silver volvo pulled into the next driveway, behind the moving truck.


	11. Exploring

Chapter 11

Hermione peered out the car window at what would be her new home. She was taken aback by what she saw. It was a tall gothic home that looked like something you'd see in a horror movie. It was huge! She tried to count the windows and saw that it had at least three floors. There was even a gargoyle standing at the base of the stairs leading to the porch. She wondered why there was only one, but when she got out, she noticed that the other had been knocked down.

Hermione grabbed her things and stepped out into a pool of sunshine, truly taking in the horrid magnificence of her new home.

Next to her, Mrs. Granger was staring as well. When the company had told her the house was old, she hadn't guessed it was this old. It turned out that they'd been trying to sell the house for ages, and it was considered the 'haunted house' of the neighborhood.

Hermione and her mother exchanged an anxious, yet slightly surprised look before walking into their new home.

Draco watched out the window as a girl stepped out of the back of the car. She was... stunning. Nothing like the girls back at Hogwarts. Course, Draco had dated alot of the girls in his year, but he hadn't really been… interested in them. They were mere toys to him. This girl, she was gorgeous. She had shimmering auburn hair and wore a tasteful, yet -dare he say...sexy?- ensemble. He wondered why she was moving in here. Then, kicked himself when he realized she wasn't suitable. She was probably a muggle, anyway, and he'd never be able to take one seriously. Although... he could have his fun with her. As she disappeared into the house, Draco left the window and went to his room, pondering things to come.

Hermione and her parents took a quick tour around their new home as the movers toiled at getting all of their belongings inside. The house was by far larger than their old, modest home, and Hermione could already tell her mother would have a wonderful time decorating the huge house.

When her parents went out onto the lawn to help sort out the moving situation, Hermione looked around the vast kitchen. It seemed like something out of a medieval castle. She touched the row of pots hanging over the hearth, and they clanged lightly against each other. She ran a hand along the rough brick of the fireplace and around its corner. "Oh," she said, surprised, when her hand caught a tiny latch on the side of the mantle. She pulled the catch and to her left a door swung open clean out of the wooden wall.

She propped open the door with an iron that lay on the hearth, and swept some cobwebs away from the doorway. She realized, after her eyes adjusted, that this was a stairwell. Excited she followed it up and up and up. After about a fifty steps, her head bumped into a trap door. She pushed it open, and her eyes were bombarded with silvery light.

After crawling in, she realized the light was filtering in through five large windows, one on each wall of the pentagonal room. Looking out one that faced her next door neighbors' house, she realized she was in a very large tower. She noticed a ladder in the center of the room and followed it up into a beautifully adorned bedroom! She felt like she had walked into a fairy tale! Smiling, she ran her fingers along the sheer window hangings and over the velveteen bedspread. She had found her bedroom.  
She looked out the window in this room, and saw way down below, a flash of silver. There was a boy outside. From the distance between them, she couldn't quite tell, but... it looked as though he was watching her...

"Hermione!" called a voice from down below.

Hermione tore her eyes away from the window as she saw the figure below slip past the tree line at the edge of her property. She scurried down the ladder, then through the trapdoor and down the staircase.

Out of breath, she ended up back in the kitchen just in time for her mother to walk in.

"Darling, I've been looking all over for you," her mother said in a concerned voice. "Your father and I thought maybe you had gotten lost in the house somewhere."

"Don't worry Mum," replied Hermione, chuckling and shaking her head. "I'm a big girl now."

Her mother hugged her tight, and over her shoulder, Hermione noticed that same figure standing just inside the woods. He was quite far away, but she could just barely make it out. She told her mother that she was going to go out and check out the yard, and exited her back door.

When she got outside, however, he was gone. She thought about going after him, to figure out who it was, but instead settled with checking out her back yard. It was massive!

As Hermione walked around her new backyard, she pondered this new life of hers. She'd changed her hairstyle, bought some new clothes and moved closer to London. Would that somehow... change who she was? She doubted that her attitude and personality had much to do with her outward appearance, but Hermione had to admit that she'd been feeling a bit more... daring lately. Maybe it was the little bit of red that was in her hair, or the way she felt emboldened by the new style. Or maybe all those chemicals had gone to her head and she was actually going to keel over from radiation any moment.

As Hermione thought about this last idea, she noticed that there was a large, rectangle pool on the far East corner of their property. As she jogged excitedly over to it, she realized that it was a 'vanishing edge pool,' the kind that looked like it had no end, or went over a waterfall. Inspecting it, she realized that it DID have a waterfall. Sort of. The water that was displaced over the wall went into a sort of containment chamber which sent it back into the pool by jets.

Laughing at the novel invention, she guessed that whoever had come up with that genius idea was sitting pretty right then. Hermione decided to do something even more reckless than she could have imagined. She jumped in the pool, clothes and all.

Hermione dove under the water and splashed and played for a while, overjoyed at the thought of having a pool in her very own yard! Never mind the fact that she was at school ten months a year, and would scarcely use it. It was the fact of the matter that counted.

Draco watched the girl as she went across the yard, and was surprised to see her jump into the swimming pool! She was fully clothed and all! He wondered who she might be.

Suddenly, Draco's sensible side came back to him. She was probably a muggle, unfit for his attentions, other than the utmost hatred. He started back down the tree he was perched in, but suddenly lost his balance. He fell through the branches and landed on the ground with a sickening clunk.

Hermione spun in the water when a sound in the trees drew her attention. Pulling herself onto the side of the pool, she saw the waving branches of a large tree. Something must have fallen out. She debated for a moment, then decided to go on over and check it out.

As she peered around the trees, she wondered who or what would be lurking in the woods. She hadn't her wand on her, but hoped that she'd have no need for it anyway. She pushed passed some large thorny branches, and saw him.

He was sprawled face down in the dirt, and for a moment, Hermione feared the boy she saw was hurt, or worse, dead...


	12. Rain and more rain

"Hermione?"

The girl jumped, bumping her head on a hard surface. It was the window. Hermione's vision cleared, and she realized where she was again; still up in her tower. Had it all been a dream? Rain was pouring down outside, and her face was wet. She laughed at herself for a moment, before running downstairs to answer her mother's call.

Across the yard, Draco Malfoy was leaning out a window as well. He'd been watching the new girl sleep. What could she be dreaming of? She woke up suddenly, and he watched with pain as she smacked her head against the window. "Ow…" he murmured, imagining her pain. Smiling, he watched as she laughed in spite of her pain and disappeared from his view.

He waited a few more moments before returning to his desk. He checked his inbox, but found no mail from PattyCakeOtter. Sighing impatiently, he started to draft up a new mail message.

PCO—

Can't wait to meet you at Florean Fortescue's. I'm counting the days.

See you in two…

Draco

His mouse hovered over the send button for a moment as he read over what he'd written. "Shit!" he said, cursing himself loudly.

"Everything alright Draco?" called his aunt in a loopy sort of voice.

"Just fine!" he said none too kindly. He'd just noticed his fatal mistake. He had signed his real name. No harm done though, he hadn't sent it yet. He adjusted the end of the letter to say his screen name and sent it along. "So much quicker than owl post..." he muttered, chuckling.

The next morning, Hermione decided to check out the town. After a hearty breakfast of buttermilk pancakes and sausages, she set off with her laptop in a messenger bag along with the usual contents of her purse. She thought for a moment of catching a cab, but then decided to walk instead. It was, after all, a beautiful day. She smiled at the sky, a sparkling sapphire blue. The only thing she noticed were some troubling clouds behind her. They certainly looked like trouble. But then, she decided to pay them no mind. She would be home before the rain.

The town was very cute with sidewalk cafes and second hand book shops galore. One Hermione took a real liking to was called "Now and Again." She found herself whiling away in there for over two hours! By then, the rain had begun. She decided to stay in the store until it let up instead of trying to fight it all the way home. She found a large book on gardening and sat in a corner.

She thought, at one point, that she heard a familiar voice. But when she peered around the book shelves she only saw the shop owner talking to some customer out of her sight. She shrugged and went back to the chapter on Perennials.

Someone walked by, and Hermione looked up. She was a moment too late to see the person. When she crawled forward to look around the corner at them, however, the person was gone. She closed her book and tried to figure it out for a moment. She heard a ding, and her attention was drawn to the door. Hermione smiled. The Rain was over.

On her way home, Hermione grabbed an éclair at a little café and munched it on her way home. The day seemed to fly by after that.

The next morning, Hermione packed up her things and kissed her parents goodbye. She was excited beyond reason, and she had no idea why. Then she realized… when she went to Diagon Alley, she'd finally be meeting JaketheSnake! She had planned to leave in about ten minutes, so Hermione decided to check her email. A note from him. She read it quickly and sighed. She couldn't wait to see who he was!

She used the floo network and ended up at the Leaky cauldron. She had only just stepped out of the fireplace when she was pounced upon by two teenage boys.

"Harry! Ron!" she cried, laughing. In all the hullabaloo, they ended up on the floor sitting in soot. "Glad to see you too.

"How was your summer, Hermione?" asked Ron.

"Yeah. You didn't keep in touch much," added Harry.

"I was just… busy," answered Hermione. "-with the move and all." Her answer seemed to satisfy them, and they all set about putting away their things in rooms that they'd reserved. Hermione and Ginny were down the hall from Harry and the rest of the Weasleys.

Hermione wondered how she'd be able to slip away to meet Jake…


	13. Author's Note

**Author's Note:** Upon coming back to , I have been overwhelmed to see the reviews on this fic! I never really had any intention of finishing it (honestly I forgot about it), but now I'm considering going back and working on it in my spare time. I've found a few errors in what I'd written so far, so I'll most likely be going back to correct them (spelling typos mostly, but there's one continuity problem in the last chapter).

Now to answer some questions in the reviews…

**Lyla93** – Hermione didn't recognize Draco in her dream because it was a dream, and she didn't know who lived next door. Draco didn't recognize Hermione out the window because he didn't get a good look at her and she was lacking her usual bushy hair and Hogwarts robes. More likely he didn't _want_ to recognize her!

**Chimei** – This fic is written sort of 'out of time.' I began it after Goblet of Fire, so anything in the subsequent books wouldn't be in the plot. I would go back and make them work with those plots, but frankly, that would not work with the way their 7th eyar in the books goes. So let's just call a fluff fic a fluff fic. :P

**Yingnyang **– Draco reads the manual to teach him to use the computer! He may be a mean boy but he's a smart cookie!


	14. Reunited

Chapter 13

That night the old gang was so happy to be spending time together once more. They sat in the dining area of The Leaky Cauldron, near the fire place. The fire itself didn't do much for the warmth of the place, since the walls were old dark and damp much like the inside of a cauldron, which Hermione realized is probably where it got its name. However, the fire did impart some of the old cheer of the Gryffindor common room for the good friends, as they relived the summer through their stories and tried to shoo away any foreboding of the coming year.

Harry had spent the first half of the summer at his Aunt and Uncle's house, and on the night before his 18th birthday he'd been taken by floo to the burrow, which was temporarily added to the network. The transfer was very smooth and there had been no problem getting Harry to safety before the wards that protected him at the Dursley's were lifted. Ron told a garish tale of a quidditch match gone wrong on the field behind his house, and proudly showed off the scar running down his left leg. Hermione made a mental note not to let Harry heal any of his wounds, since he clearly did not have the steady hand of the healers who were the equivalents of muggle plastic surgeons.

Hermione couldn't help but notice through the whole evening that Ginny couldn't keep her eyes off Harry. She laughed a little too hard at his jokes and when Harry retold himself carrying Ron back to the burrow and patching him up, she practically swooned. Hermione knew her best friend had been holding a flame for the Boy Who Lived, but surely any possibility of dating would have made it into their daily emails!

After midnight the group split and went to their respective rooms. The moment the door swung shut and Hermione latched it, she turned on her friend.

"Well little Miss Batty Eyelashes, is there something you're not telling me?" Hermione teased.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Ginny countered, false naivety all over her freckled face. Her sarcasm wasn't enough to stop her blushing though, and Ginny turned quickly away to hide her embarrassment from her friend and began brushing her long auburn locks.

"Ha!" Hermione exclaimed, looking at her friend in the bathroom mirror. "That milky complexion doesn't lie! You're in love!"

"Is it that obvious?" crooned Ginny, turning to face her best friend and confidant. "I swear he doesn't even give me the time of day."

"Well, you've always been on his radar, but Harry's best friends with your brother. You know Ron would hex him for even looking at you wrong."

"Is it sad that I think that would be incredibly romantic? Him taking a curse for me, I mean," Ginny asked, blushing again.

"No," Hermione responded thoughfully, "but you always were the fairy tale romance type. I'm more of a Jane Eyre myself."

"Who's that?" Ginny asked, intrigued. She loved witch weekly's sleazy romance novel book club.

"She's the title character of a muggle novel that's quite famous. She's very much the epitome of a feminist, and is so stubborn that she it takes her pretty much the whole book to just be happy with her love. I think if I were ever in love it would be like that."

"You are the most stubborn girl I know," Ginny laughed, standing up. "Speaking of which, you mentioned you met someone in the Hogwarts chat room? Sit down and dish; I want to play with this gorgeous hair of yours! It relaly has not looked this good since I've known you." Ginny pushed Hermione into the chair in front of the large mirror and began brushing Hermione's recently straightened locks.

"Thanks, I got it cut a few days ago and learned a new straightening charm you should try."

"My hair is plenty straight, thanks. But you're stalling!"

"It's nothing, he was just a guy. I did find out he's a wizard and attends Hogwarts though. But there is a catch."

"What? I can't even imagine what could be wrong with him… besides being a Slytherin."

Hermione's face fell immediately and she turned her chestnut eyes away from Ginny's bright brown ones. "really?" Ginny exclaimed. "Of all the people in the world wide spiderweb you could find, you caught a Slytherin?"

Hermione laughed, "It's just the worldwide web, Ginny. And yes, apparently my luck _is_ that terrible. Ouch!" Ginny had started French braiding Hermione's hair, and her tender scalp protested. "Can you stop that? I have more pressing things to talk about."

"Namely?" queried Ginny, all ears.

"Namely, I promised him I'd meet him at Florean Fortescue's tomorrow for lunch and trip to Flourish and Blotts," explained Hermione.

"But, you don't know who he is! He could be any of the terrible Slytherins we hate…"

"Of course I've thought of that. But he can't be all bad. I mean, think about it. He would have to be someone with access to muggle technology, so he's most likely not as prejudiced as the rest of them. That disqualifies most everyone who's tried to hex me for my blood before. Also, he loves reading! No one who loves reading can be bad."

"I'm sure You Know Who was a reader before..." Ginny said darkly.

"Oh come on, I think I would know if I was meeting the spawn of satan or something. It's not like it could be Draco or any of his minions. They'd be more likely to take a shot of acromantula venom than admit they'd touched muggle technology. No, I think it's someone who has flown under our radar thus far. I mean, there at least a hundred students in our year. There's bound to be tons of folks we don't know in Slytherin."

Ginny didn't seem convinced, but the girls both admitted they were tired and tucked themselves in to the down comforters on their rickety antique beds.

"Hey Ginny," Hermione whispered from her bed.

"Yeah 'Mione?" Ginny whispered back.

"Will you help me slip away to meet him tomorrow?"

"Of course. Who am I to deny you your one true Slytherin love!" Ginny giggled conspiratorially.

Hermione's pillow just happened to fly across the chasm between their beds at that moment, down feathers flying freely in the air. She was happy to have a cohort and confidant like Ginny, though, and dropped the subject as they both slipped into happy sleep.


	15. Dream a Little Dream

Chapter 14

Hermione was having one of the weirdest dreams of her life. But that was ok; she wouldn't remember it when she woke in the morning. She was dreaming that she was flying over vast green fields through a perfectly blue sky. Here in the safety of her dream she was free of the crippling fear of flying she normally had while conscious. No, she did not fear as she soared high above the vast plane below her. An owl soared over to her dreaming self, and she instinctively reached out to receive its parcel. From its talons it dropped a tiny glass vial or green potion into her outstretched palm.

She took the potion willingly and looked over the ornately decorated vial. A serpent coiled around the base of the glass, turning its open mouth up to create the opening with an aged cork firmly between its fangs. In her dreaming fearless state, Hermione opened the bottle and drank the potion, which was sweet and tasted of licorice. She had always liked the taste of licorice, and took this to be a good sign. She looked down at the beautiful scene below to notice that she was now soaring above a field of fresh yellow daffodils. Without realizing she'd changed her course, she swooped down to the level of the flowers and picked a bunch before returning to her place in the sky.

Then, the scene below her began to change. The earth became more uneven, almost rocky, and grass was less and less to be seen. Ahead she saw a building looming on the horizon, almost like her new home; though at her speed she knew she'd be able to make it out soon. Momentarily, she could tell it was some sort of gothic building with towers and rolling grasses and high gates. She lowered her altitude a little and found herself slowing, as if to land. She realized the house was not her new home but a strange manor, and she saw that she was slowing still, flying close over the walls of an elaborate labyrinthine garden. Finally she came to a calm, smooth landing on the front steps of the enormous building. She could only describe it as a manor or gothic palace; for she knew no simpler word would suit something of this stature.

She hesitantly looked up the face of the building, and caught a flash of someone pulling their head back in a window. The window snapped shut right after, and Hermione gave up any hope of seeing the person who had been spying on her. She thought perhaps it was a child, lost in the maze that a house of this size must pose. She decided to leave the daffodils on the steps for whoever was inside. Perhaps he or she would find a way out and see them as a comfort.

Hermione turned to leave the steps, when a strange sound rang out in her ears. Was it… an alarm? A telephone? She didn't know if she had triggered some response to her presence or…


	16. Oh, Make Me Over

Chapter 15

Hermione shot up in her bed in the Leaky Cauldron. The comically large alarm clock Fred and George had given her last Christmas was jumping around the nightstand between her and Ginny's beds, making the most obnoxious ringing sound. Ginny rolled over and pulled the down comforter over her head, but Hermione reached for her wand to silence the infernal clock. So that was what invaded her dream there at the end. She tried to remember what happened before the noise, but all she could remember was licorice and daffodils. Whatever that meant.

Hermione was too excited to go back to sleep, now! It was two days til they left for King's Cross Station, and today was also the day of her meeting with Jake! _What am I doing, _thought Hermione, _I've already named him in my mind. I bet his first name's not even Jake._ Hermione shook her head and took her toiletry bag to the en-suite bathroom.

"Ginny I expect you up and at least kind of coherent by the time I get out of the shower!" Hermione called over her shoulder at her comatose friend. Ginny simply rolled over and groaned.

Ginny peeked her bleary eyes out over the soft, warm comforter to decipher the clock. "7 o'clock? Are you mad?" she muttered at no one in particular, listening to the screech of the shower faucet coming to life in the bathroom.

Hermione showered quickly, making sure that she was extra clean and fresh smelling with some lovely purple sudsy concoction she could only get at Madam Primpernelle's here in Diagon Alley. Hermione was lucky that it had lasted all summer and would definitely need to go by before leaving for school. She toweled off in the tiny bathroom and wrapped her hair up before slipping back into the camisole and shorts she wore to bed. When she wasn't in her own bedroom she tended to wear more athletic wear to sleep rather than the unflattering – yet cozy! – flannels she typically wore at home.

Hermione was happy to see that Ginny was stirring as she sidled out of the narrow nook that led to the tiny bathroom. She was at least sitting up and tying her hair up away from her neck. Ginny looked a little flushed, and Hermione sat down next to her out of concern.

"Everything ok?" Hermione asked, looking at Ginny's flushed face.

"Jus'… dream," Ginny muttered, though Hermione couldn't tell if she was just being groggy or being purposefully evasive. Ginny was sometimes hard to read. Ginny perked up a moment later to ask, "What are you wearing on your date?"

Hermione shrugged, "No idea. But I have everything I own in my trunk thanks to a shrinking charm."

"You've come to the right girl. Let me just shower real quickly," Ginny said, and was up and in the bathroom in moments.

_Well, _Hermione thought,_ I know how to get her up and moving in the morning. Give her the promise of a fashion show. Or maybe just the promise of getting to decide what I wear._

Either way, Hermione was happy to let her friend choose her outfit. She never knew what to wear when. The only reason she put together her new outfit on moving day was because the sales lady had helped her. Sure, she'd left the dressing room looking like a mannequin, but it was a good look to be sure.

Hermione wasted time while Ginny was showering by blowing out her hair with a drying charm (_"exaresco"_) followed by a charm to straighten her hair, and an even dose of Madam Primpernelle's hair potion to cut back on her usual frizz and add some shine to her already glistening highlights.

By the time Ginny was out of the shower and dressed, Hermione just needed an outfit and shoes to go start her shopping early. Ginny, however, had another idea.

"Get over there and put some makeup on your pasty face! My box is on the edge of the sink," Ginny, said gesturing with one arm while the rest of her body was wholeheartedly shuffling through every piece of clothing Hermione had thought to bring with her. It was about half Hogwarts robes, a third night clothes and there were a few random outfits she brought for the weekends in Hogsmeade.

Ginny finally made a selection and laid the clothes out on the bed, and brought them back to a normal size.

"You don't mind if I make some… alterations, right?" Ginny said nonchalantly over her shoulder.

Hermione didn't have a chance to answer before she heard Ginny's severing charm cutting through the fabric. She spun on the spot and dropped her jaw so fast that she got lip gloss on her nose. Oops. She guessed she have to have a redo on that one. She gave up on any hope of looking classy after Ginny was done, but once she had the clothing on, Hermione couldn't say she hated the look.

Ginny had taken a long black skirt with tulle underneath and cut it to above knee length, but she had left the tulle hanging an inch or two below, and charmed the tulle to be a bright crimson. The top was a polka dotted t-shirt she had, but Ginny had gathered the sleeves in the front to make the caps and used the extra fabric from the skirt to make a drawstring to draw the bosom together where she had cute it almost too far down.

Ginny gave Hermione a once-over, then said, "Let me see that shirt one more time." Hermione obliged, and Ginny gently shrank the shirt until it was a size smaller than anything Hermione owned.

"I'm never going to fit into that!" Hermione exclaimed, holding up the shirt.

"It's cotton, 'Mione, it'll stretch," Ginny said, turning to dress herself.

Hermione did as she was told, and the shirt did fit, but only just so. Ginny turned to give her another check, and nodded her approval. After a few more minutes, the girls were both ready to go out, though Hermione felt way too made up for a regular shopping trip. Just to be more comfortable, she grabbed her plainest cloak and drew it over her shoulders. If only the cloak would cover the tiny sliver of stomach that kept threatening to make an appearance under the polka dotted shirt.


	17. Make Way

A/N: Some of the reviewers are worried that I'm changing Hermione too much. I admit her haphazard look was iconic when she was a child, but every woman gets to the point where she starts taking better care of herself, whether for the opposite sex or simply for herself. I like to think that my Hermione is still against most of that nonsense and opposed the outfit Ginny made her, but if you remember back to even the Yule Ball, Hermione knows how to make herself look good, we just never really see her through the eyes of a man who's attracted to her. She is still modest enough to cover up with a cloak, so she's not totally going muggle slut on us! I think Draco's reaction and analysis when he sees her will say a lot about her appearance. Speaking of Draco…

Chapter 16

Draco woke early from the largest room the Leaky cauldron had to offer. He, being in charge of his parents' remaining fortunes as the sole surviving heir, had no reason to spare any expense when it came to his housing. He was a little humbler this time around though, and since he had gone directly from his Great Aunt's house, he'd had no time to bring a house elf along as he customarily did to take care of the little things he needed day to day. Although, after 3 long months of living without such luxuries, he didn't really see reason to keep the house elves. No, he decided then and there to send a package home with a detailed letter on preparing the house to be prepped for the long months of inactivity. He would include a few scraps of clothing with strict instructions that any elf who took clothing before the task was complete would in fact not be free and was to punish himself accordingly. That should just about cover the elf problem and the stagnant manor problem in one swift blow. In a moment of rare kindness, he decided to go by Madame Malkin's and pick out some socks to send them. He had a staff of 6 elves at last count, so 3 pair would do.

Draco felt a little better doing something about the house. He was certain once he turned 18 and graduated that he would want to live there, or if the memories were still fresh, he could always sell it to some fool with eyes bigger than his pocketbook. Either way, he would be a man after this year, and would need to find a job. That is, unless he just wanted to make a job, which was certainly in his spending range. Either way, he had more important things to think about than the future. He was meeting a mystery girl today!

Draco got his thoughts together. First Madam Malkin's for socks and a new set of robes, then to Flourish and Blotts to find the perfect gift for an intelligent mystery girl, then to the ice cream parlor just early enough to spy her out of the crowd. Wait, how was he supposed to know what she looked like? They really hadn't thought this out. Obviously she would be some Gryffindor his age that he hadn't met yet. How many of those could there be?

Draco's thoughts were interrupted by a regal owl carrying a heavy yet thin parcel bearing the Hogwarts crest. Draco sprang to meet the owl, and quickly opened the parcel, out of which spilled a badge, face down on the comforter, and a scrap of loose parchment as well as an official letter bearing the Hogwarts crest. Draco scanned the letter quickly.

_Mr. Malfoy,_

_ Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is proud to bestow upon you the honor of Head Boy. You, along with the Head Girl will be required to oversee the Prefects, organize the Prefect rounds and complete a required number of patrol rounds yourself. You will also be considered a shining example of the model Hogwarts student and will be expected to conduct yourself with decorum as you have in the past, as well as maintaining top level grades in your classes._

_ Should you accept our offer, simply attend the Prefect meeting held aboard the Hogwarts Express in Compartment 13. You and the Head Girl will be in charge of conducting the meeting, and will be provided with an itinerary in the compartment. You will also be required to accompany the First year students across the lake and to their sorting._

_ With all due respect and cordiality,_

_ Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_ Order of Merlin, First Class_

Draco folded the letter carefully and picked up the scrap of parchment. It was a scribbled note.

_**Perhaps a bit more decorum than your usual, then.**_

_** -Severus**_

Draco scoffed, and picked up the badge._ Head boy, _he thought. _ Mum would be so proud, if only because it looked so good on her._ Draco remembered when he got his prefect's badge just before leaving for Hogwarts one year. All his mother could say was how eligible and powerful it made him look to the families who wanted him to marry their daughters. A thought sprung to Draco's head. _The only good thing about being an orphan is no more arranged marriage. The worst is being similar to Potter._

Draco straightened his silvery tie against his black dress shirt and ensured it was tucked into his perfectly pressed slacks. He checked his perfect silvery hair in the mirror and saw that it fell satisfactorily over the left side of his face. He had done away with the slicked back look since his father's death. It was something his father advocated, and anything his father advocated was the last of his worries now. He was his own man. Draco threw on his cloak and looking in the mirror, he was painfully reminded of his father. So much black; but the tall dark and handsome thing was good for him, so he kept the outfit and left for the Alley.

Exiting into the bright morning sun, Draco found himself surrounded by Hogwarts students flitting about from store to store, trying to get their school things at the last minute, no doubt. Still, Draco was here doing sort of the same thing, so he couldn't blame them. HE could, however, scowl at them and watch the duck and run in fear.

Which, of course, he did.

Draco stalked down the Alley, gaining a wide berth by those around him, and entered Madame Malkin's shop with a loud 'ding' of the bell over the door. Most of the heads in the store turned to him as he entered the tiny shop. Draco was used to such treatment out of sheer fear and groveling, but for the first time, as Madame Malkin walked toward him with open arms, he recognized the look in her eyes, and of everyone's in the shop, as being not hate, not fear, not ass-kissing, but pity. He stepped out of her range of hugging. He thought if she hugged him it would be the end. The end of his reputation as a badass quidditch player and evil dark wizard (although, he wasn't much of a dark wizard without father's tutelage), and the beginning of his reputation as a pansy. No, he refused to let that happen.

Draco turned quickly on the heel of his ridiculously expensive Italian leather shoe and made a retreat with what little self-respect and dignity he had left. Luckily enough, Flourish and Blotts was the next shop down on the left, so he ducked in there, hoping to hide amongst the flurry of textbooks flying off the shelves into waiting students' bags and cauldrons. He went to the back of the store, since he already knew exactly what he had in mind, it was back near the stationary. The supply of stationary at Flourish and Blotts was nothing compared to that of the stationary store next door, but he had a unique item in mind that he knew could be found here.

After rustling around on the shelves he finally found what he was looking for; two identical leather-bound books, about 20 centimeters high and 13 centimeters across. He quickly paid for the journals, had one gift wrapped and placed the other in his satchel. It was a satchel. Not a man purse at all. Besides, he had to come back with PCO and buy his books later.

Draco made his way out of Flourish and Blotts and walked diagonally across the alley to florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor. This was such a strange place for him to be. He hadn't eaten ice cream there since he was getting ready to go to Hogwarts for his first year. He realized now that the place was decorated to look like an old timey muggle ice cream parlor. In his Great Aunt's town's historical district they had a place that looked just like that. She had dragged him off to help her pick out antiques down there, but he had spent his time sulking in any available venue, which meant the ice cream parlor. The best think about Florean Fortescue's was that they weren't hindered by muggle flavors and keeping their ice cream cold. With the benefit of magic they had over 100 flavors, all held in stasis by magic containers throughout the store. There were small wrought iron tables and chairs, which Draco's Great Aunt would call "cute," but Draco did not use that word. No they were… quaint.

Draco took a seat at one of the tables and leaned back with his hands behind his head. He had a little over a half hour before his mystery girl would arrive at noon, so he simply relaxed and watched the parents bringing their brats in the store for a wholly unneeded sugar rush.


	18. Breakfast

Ginny and Hermione chatted amicably as the descended the stairs to the Leaky Cauldron's parlor for breakfast. The boys would hopefully be close behind, but were most likely just waking up in their shared room. Hermione thought back on the years they had spent at Hogwarts, and noted with a sigh that this would be their last trip for school supplies, followed by their penultimate trek on the Hogwarts Express.

Ginny turned to her friend and said, "Why are you sighing? You should be excited for today! Besides, you look to good to be morose!"

"I'm fine," the elder witch replied, "Just a little emotional over this being my last year at Hogwarts."

"I wish I got to graduate with you guys just so we could all start our lives at the same time, but I have to say I'm not excited to be out on my own," Ginny said with a similar sigh. Hermione could somewhat understand her friend's distress. Ginny did not come from a family that could afford to parcel out an inheritance to help her make her way after graduating from Hogwarts. Most of her brothers had done well to have jobs lined up after Hogwarts, or in the case of the twins to have saved up enough to start a store. However, Ron and Ginny would have to rest their fates on their N.E.W.T scores and hope they were given good prospects for a job.

"Well enjoy it while you can," Hermione said wistfully, "I don't think I'll ever be in a more magical place."

"There's always the department of mysteries!" Ginny joked as they took their seats at a small wicker table and chair set near the crackling fireplace. "I'm sure that's the only place in the Ministry you could learn something new!"

Their conversation was cut short as Tom lurched over to the table to take their breakfast orders. "Will it just be the two of you ladies?" he asked, blue eyes twinkling at the prospect of such lovely ladies in his presence.

"No, Tom," Hermione replied, "The boys should be down soon. So whatever you bring, make it for four please."

Tom nodded and turned to go. Ginny held back a shiver of disgust at Tom, who had always creeped her right out, and said "Oh Tom, nothing too greasy please." She even managed to smile a small grin at him, knowing this would ensure the best breakfast foods for them.

Hermione and Ginny began discussing and comparing their textbook lists for the year, when an owl flew between their huddled heads. It seemed to be for Hermione, and the owl held out its leg to offer a slightly lumpy package to the brunette. Hermione grinned as she saw the purple Hogwarts crest stamped on the outside of the letter. Inside were a badge – she squealed with delight- and a letter which she sped through quickly before handing it to Ginny.

_Ms. Granger,_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is proud to bestow upon you the honor of Head Girl. You, along with the Head Boy will be required to oversee the Prefects, organize the Prefect rounds and complete a required number of patrol rounds yourself. You will also be considered a shining example of the model Hogwarts student and will be expected to conduct yourself with decorum as you have in the past, as well as maintaining top level grades in your classes._

_Should you accept our offer, simply attend the Prefect meeting held aboard the Hogwarts Express in Compartment 13. You and the Head Boy will be in charge of conducting the meeting, and will be provided with an itinerary in the compartment. You will also be required to accompany the First year students across the lake and to their sorting._

_With all due respect and cordiality,_

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_Order of Merlin, First Class_

"Oh Hermione," squealed Ginny, "I knew you'd get it!"

"I really doubted it, since it didn't come with my Hogwarts letter the way my prefect badge always did," Hermione replied. "Oh!" she exclaimed, hitting herself on the forehead facetiously, "I keep forgetting, did you make prefect?"

Ginny grinned, "Of course! I haven't broken quite as many rules as my brother and Harry have," she said giggling.

"Now now, we only break rules when it's necessary," a voice said behind Hermione.

"Or when it's fun!" added a more mischievous one.

"Hey Harry, Ron," Ginny said, smiling at the approaching guys.

"What's the food situation?" asked Ron, rubbing his stomach.

"Honestly Ron," scoffed Hermione, "When _aren't_ you thinking about food?"

The other three laughed as Ron turned red. "When I'm full, of course!" Ron said indignantly, but as he sat down his scowl turned into a smile. He didn't mind the ribbing, he was just glad to be around his friends again.

"Fun or not, Ron, you won't be doing any rule breaking with Harry and I as Head Boy and Girl," said Hermione half-seriously.

"Oh, congratulations Hermione, but I haven't heard whether I got the position," Harry replied, taking a seat between Ron and Ginny. "Really, I think I have enough on my plate, don't you agree?"

They all sobered for a moment, thinking of the hard task Harry had ahead of him. Undoubtedly with him becoming of legal age, the danger for him from a certain dark wizard would be greater than ever.

"Well I would hope that you can finish school before you have to face down evil," said Hermione sagely, "but I know we can only hope for the best."

"I doubt Voldemort will care if I've finished my schooling. No need for N.E.W.T scores if I'm dead," harry said, all humor lost from his voice.

Ginny's face turned an ashen shade of grey, then quickly blushed as she made eye contact with Harry.

"But let's just focus on the present," Harry said, giving a small smile to his three friends, though the sentiment didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Speaking of presents," Hermione said, changing the subject, "Ginny and I have to guy find something for you, birthday boy." She lovingly tugged on his cheek, reminding Harry of Mrs. Weasley. "So you boys will be on your own for school supplies today."

Ginny caught on to the hint Hermione was dropping and nodded, adding, "Yeah, we have a few errands to run this morning.

"Want to meet up for lunch after that?" asked Ron, looking at Hermione hopefully. He had never seen her look so different, and didn't want to miss the chance to spend time with her later. Her appearance was dredging up all sorts of feelings he hadn't put much thought to that summer.

Ginny punched her brother in the arm lovingly, "You can ogle Hermione at dinner tonight; we have lunch plans as well."

Hermione shrugged almost apologetically, but she was glad Ginny remembered her lunch plans to meet Jake and wasn't going to give up the provided way out.

Tom lumbered up to the table then, with a tray of sausages, toast, porridge and fresh fruit for their breakfast, and the conversation fell to the wayside as the hungry teens ate their fill.


	19. A Curious Turn of Events

**Author's Note:**

**Wow! Let me just say how pleased I am that after resurrecting this story from the dead, it's gotten over a thousand hits in 3 days! Thank you so much for reading, and a special thanks to my recent reviewers: Bookworm97, Tembalina247, and of course to Irene O'Reilly who convinced me to come back to this story!**

**On another note, reading over the first few chapters was a little painful considering the computer I described for Hermione sounded like an artifact compared to today… then I remember the HP books take place in the 90's, so maybe she was ahead of her time!**

**Enjoy, and please keep reviewing to keep me inspired! I'm pretty much picking up the story and running with it since the original fan fiction from the harry potter (dot) net forums is long lost.**

Chapter 18

The next few hours were a whirlwind of confusion, close encounters and near misses. An innocent bystander would no doubt be left with mind reeling, reaching for a map of Diagon Alley to figure out how in fact this all went down. The best way to understand the morning fully is to give you a time for each event, and yet still it leaves me wondering, how did they miss each other?

**9:45 AM – The Leaky Cauldron**

Hermione popped a final slice of pineapple into her mouth and chewed it slowly, enjoying the cold crisp juice filling her mouth. They really had to be her favorite fruit. Too bad they weren't native to England. She looked to her friend Ginny, who had long since finished her breakfast and was looking at her watch. Ginny never ate too much, especially around Harry, but somehow she never looked malnourished. Hermione shrugged the thought away, and said, "Ready to go?"

Ginny nodded and the girls stood up, just in time for Ginny's chair to trip up Tom, who was carrying a tray of hot porridge and sausages to a group of students on the other side of the parlor. Hermione leaned back just in time – for the hot porridge to land thickly in Ron and Harry's laps.

Hermione and Ginny looked from the mess of porridge on the boys' laps to the sausages littering the table, looked at each other, and burst out laughing. Tom, of course, was apologizing profusely, and the boys looked none-too-happy to be laughed at.

Hermione took pity on her two best friends and pulled out her wand, cleaning their robes and the tablecloth. There was no saving the porridge at this point, so Tom, continuing to apologize and bowing his head repeatedly, backed away into the kitchen to conjure up a new breakfast tray.

In all the mess, laughter and catastrophe, neither the golden trio nor the youngest Weasley child saw the Slytherin prince himself descend from the stairwell and out onto Diagon Alley.

**9:55 AM –Diagon Alley**

Draco Malfoy entered Madam Malkin's robe shop.

**10:00 AM – Diagon Alley**

Hermione and Ginny passed Madam Malkin's shop on their way down the Alley, going over their plans.

"First I need to change some muggle money over, so I need to go to Gringotts," Hermione said, looking at her friend.

"That's fine," Ginny said, adding, "My mum already gave me book money, so I'm fine."

Hermione nodded and the pair passed the goblin guards and into the palatial white marble bank.

Two storefronts over, Draco Malfoy swept out of the robe shop and turned the opposite direction, to Flourish and Blotts.

**10:30 AM – Gringotts steps**

Hermione and Ginny squinted in the sun, their eyes adjusting after the dim atmosphere of the ancient bank. "I need some body wash and shampoo," Hermione said, shielding her eyes with a downturned palm.

"Well," said Ginny, "We're right here by Madame Primpernelle's, let's do that first, then on to books, and then I want to go to Eyelop's for some owl treats for Pigwidgeon."

"Yes, a game plan," Hermione consented, grabbing her friend's hand, "Let's go!"

The girls hopped into the next shop, where their senses were immediately bombarded with beauty products. All around were advertisements flashing, moving, and modeling their latest creations. Be prettier, look younger, pass for older, shine more, shine less, stops unladylike sweat, makes your skin glisten, every sign was promising a cure for every ailment no woman knew she suffered from. The scents were overwhelming as well. In one breath, Hermione could detect coconut, cherry, peach, lavender, rosemary, cinnamon, vanilla, all these scents that she could differentiate thanks to all her potions work. The only bad thing about all these wonderful scents floating around was that when combined, they smelled absolutely terrible.

Hermione held her nose, nodded at Ginny and dove through the sea of girls and women crowding the tiny shop, which was barely half the size of Madam Malkin's beside it, and a few minutes later emerged triumphant with purple sudsy body wash potion and a smoothing shampoo serum that claimed to "abolish frizz" and "help hair dry in half the time!" Hermione wearily sidled up to the counter and provided the requested galleon and sickles, rationalizing in her mind how long these products would last her.

**11:00 AM – Flourish & Blotts**

Draco emerged triumphant from the back of the store and made his way to the checkout counter just as Hermione and Ginny entered the bookstore, looking to buy their textbooks. Hermione had a list of 12 books to buy, Ginny had 8. They made their way around the room, summoning books as they saw the ones necessary, and by the time they had made it to the checkout counter, Draco had slipped out the front door of the store, on his way to Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor.

The girls paid for their books and Hermione painstakingly shrunk and stacked each one in a sensible manor, tying them up with some of the packaging string the clerk had on the counter. Then she slipped them in the bottom of her purse and did the same for Ginny. Ginny did not look well at all.

Hermione touched her friend on the shoulder, "Everything ok?"

Ginny jerked her head towards the door and Hermione followed. Just inside the exit, Ginny spoke.

"It's just that I spent all the money mother gave me on books. They were more expensive than I thought. I was just hoping to do other things with that money, like owl treats and some new inkwells. It's nothing I guess. I should be happy we can afford these expensive books at all," Ginny sighed a little and looked away, though she seemed resigned to her fate.

Hermione had a sudden stroke of genius. "My books are still in excellent condition from last year. Why don't you use mine? I'm sure there are even some notes inside from last year."

Ginny looked confused, "But how would I get them from your parents' house?" she asked.

"Come on Ginny, you know I have a strict policy of no book left behind! They're all shrunk and in my trunk!"

The younger witch laughed aloud, "that rhymed!"

The girls returned to the queue to wait in line to return Ginny's books, in favor of the free ones Hermione had offered.

**11:25 AM – Florean Fortescue's**

Draco took a seat at one of the tables and leaned back with his hands behind his head. He had a little over a half hour before his mystery girl would arrive at noon, so he simply relaxed and watched the parents bringing their brats in the store for a wholly unneeded sugar rush.

**11:25 AM – Diagon Alley **

Meanwhile, Hermione went down past Gringotts to Eyelop's Owl Emporium. The store was tiny and dimly lit, but it wasn't too far from Florean Fortescue's so Hermione tagged along. Together they picked out owl nuts along with a bacon flavored treat that Hermione wasn't sure would be enticing to owls, but which had a label spouting advertisements to the opposite effect.

11:45 AM – Florean Fortescue's

Draco was starting to get a little nervous, though he did not show it outwardly. He didn't know how he would recognize this girl. What if she was already here? He looked around openly, searching for something that would tip of the Gryffindor. He really didn't know why he was bothering with this stupid meeting anyway. They'd barely said two words to each other online. He knew he had sunk very low when he deigned to use muggle technology like that. It just somehow gave him a spark of happiness that he had found another magical person on the internet. Of course, it probably meant she was muggleborn and not worth his time, but still he wasn't sure what that had to do with anything now. No parents to choose his wife, no Malfoy blood relatives to impress with his choice of friends and romantic partners. Really, he was a free agent. I t was a little scary to think that if he got into trouble there would be no one to take care of him. Although, he knew he'd always have Professor Snape. He had treated his mother like a sister and him like a nephew or son. In fact Severus was a far better father than Lucius, at least in Draco's mind. He always resented his father's hold over him, and the means with which he maintained that hold.

Draco closed his mind to that train of thought and lifted his eyes to see the last person in the world he wanted to see.

Pansy Parkinson.

Pansy slid her way over to Draco looking every bit as pug faced and disgusting as last year, but with the addition of two unattractive lumps of flesh on her chest that did not look in the least bit attractive or natural.

"Pansy dear, if you were going to have work done, why didn't you let them focus on your face,' he sneered.

"Oh Drakey, you noticed!" Pansy squealed shaking her shoulders for effect. "A graduation present, don't you know," she added.

"Don't you have to graduate first?" he muttered, mostly to himself.

Pansy took it as an interested party wanting to know all about her parents' gift to her. 'Well of course my parents wanted to wait until I'd graduated, but there was no way I was going to be all flat-chested at the end of the year ball. It is after the culmination of everything we've worked for at Hogwarts," she simpered.

Draco hardly thought the _ball _was the accomplishment to top his Hogwarts career, but who was he to try to talk sense to a crazy person.

"Anyway Draco," Pansy went on, "With your mother gone, oh and so sorry for you by the way, you'll be needed a feminine eye to help you choose the perfect dress robes for when you walk me out on the floor for my final ball at Hogwarts!" Her eyes lit up with the treasured fantasy she had imagined all these years. She and her perfect beau, the epitome of pureblooded perfection, gliding across the Great Hall in the beautiful silver and gold that were customary for the final ball. She just couldn't wait. And with that thought, she dragged Draco from the seat and towards the door.

"Hey!" he sputtered, at a loss of words for once in his life, "I have an appointment! I'm meeting someone here."

Pansy turned and scoffed "As if. Who are you meeting?" she asked doubtingly.

"I—I don't know," he mumbled.

Pansy renewed her tug, on his lapel, and he slowed her just long enough to give the wrapped gift to the wizard behind the counter. "If someone comes in asking for 'Jake,' give her this."

The wizard in the pink pinstriped jacket and handlebar mustache nodded, and tucked the gift away under the counter, next to his spare lime green bowtie.

As Draco was unceremoniously tugged out of the ice cream parlor by Pansy, he brushed against a female entering the parlor. He didn't see her face, but her certainly noticed her attractive body in a vaguely muggleish outfit under a large cloak. Despite the muggle vibe it had, the outfit and her body were – dare he say sexy? On second glance back, she had turned so all he saw was the yards of black fabric and her glistening chestnut hair. It looked oddly… familiar?


	20. Like Ships in the Night

Chapter 19

Hermione and Ginny left Eyelop's Owl Emporium, happy to have gotten all of their errands done. Ginny looked happy, while Hermione looked vaguely sick to her stomach.

Noticing the look on her friend's face, Ginny said, "Are you alright Hermione?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled, looking down at her clothing. "Just nervous I guess," she continued, straightening up.

"Mia, you look great, and whoever you're meeting will be lucky to share an ice cream sundae with you. Honestly, he can't be a Slytherin because that choice of a meeting place is positively medieval," Ginny said, rolling her eyes.

"Actually, they hadn't mastered the use of ice in a stable manner in medieval times. They wouldn't have the means to make ice cream," Hermione corrected.

"Whatever," Ginny scoffed, "It seems old fashioned and cute. Stop changing the subject!"

"Okay. I guess I'm ready," Hermione said, pulling down her skirt for about the hundredth time that day.

Ginny grabbed her friend by the shoulders and turned her so they were face to face. She leaned her forehead against Hermione's and said, "You are beautiful, confident and bloody brilliant. You'll be just fine."

The older girl grinned, and nodded, and turned to cross the street to Florean Fortescue's. Pushing through the crowd, she made it to the opposite pavement, and walked through the doors only to be almost knocked down by stupid pug-faced Pansy Parkinson. Hermione refused to acknowledge her existence, and when she noticed who she was dragging behind her, she redoubled her efforts to not even spare a look in that direction. Was that Malfoy? He looked… different somehow. She knew Malfoy had lost his parents recently, and even a heartless git like him would have to be somehow affected by that, wouldn't he? But she couldn't put her finger on what was different. Maybe it was the fact that his hair was no longer slicked back like some grease monkey in one of her mom's sock hop movies. Either way, Hermione had neither time nor patience to waste on pests like Draco Malfoy.

Hermione looked around the ice cream parlor, but could put names to most of the students she saw. There were a few people she didn't know even by sight, so she took a seat at a small table near the back to watch. She didn't know what she was looking for. Maybe someone who looked just as lost as she felt? They really should have thought this through better, concocted some sort of signal. Hermione felt a moment of despair when she realized she would have no way to get in touch with Jake the Snake, since muggle technology didn't work in the wizarding world. Even if the computer did work in theory, there was obviously no wireless connection to get it connected to the internet. She thought she might ask Arthur Weasley about that later. Maybe there was a way around the problem of no wireless internet. After all, the radio she, Harry and Ron listened to in the common room worked outside of regular radio waves. They were able to listen to any wizarding channel on that piece of junk. If an old radio could do that, she was sure she could figure out the spells to make her wireless internet work.

Lost in her thoughts, Hermione didn't noticed time flying by. Soon it had been almost an hour with no sign of Jake the Snake. Sighing, Hermione gathered up her bag and prepared to leave and find Ginny for a late lunch. ON her way out the door, a thought stopped her. She saw the cashier in his lime green bowtie and thought she'd ask him, just on the off chance he knew Jake.

"Excuse me sir," Hermione began, stammering, "I know this is probably crazy but do you know a Hogwarts student named Jake-"

"Oh yes," the man interjected, cutting off Hermione's rambling and uncertain sentence with a smile that screamed either customer service or mass homicide. He reached under the counter and pulled out a gift wrapped package and handed it to Hermione. "Have an _ice_ day!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but took the package happily and left the all-too-cheery ice cream shop. She walked a few steps, then spying a tiny nook to the side, leaned against the tiny alley wall and bent her knees til she slid to the ground. There was no more graceful way for her to sit down in that tiny skirt anyway.

Hands shaking from a mix of excitement and nervousness, Hermione turned the package over and slid her hand gently under the pristine silver wrapping paper, dislodging the tape and lifting the crisp edges off the book. She turned the book over in her hands to view the title, and noticed it didn't have one. Hermione brushed her hands over the beautifully soft leather cover, and some charm took its cue to engrave her name across the cover. _Hermione Jane Granger _now adorned the cover, surrounded by vines and leaves making a beautiful cover to behold.

Excited, Hermione opened the cover and a small note fell out, presumably from the giver. Hermione was saddened to see that the note was actually from the publisher of the book, and explained the nature of what she held in her hands.

_**Chartus' Enchanted Stationery**_

_Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of a set of enchanted two-way diaries. The dragon leather cover is enchanted to imprint upon the owner's touch. To use this feature, simply run your hands along the cover, which will engrave the owner's name indelibly on the face of the book. This charm may not be undone without returning to the manufacturer, so use this feature wisely. The diary itself works as a two way communication between the books. It can be used to duplicate records for a secure and permanent way to keep your information in case of loss of the original diary. It may also be used for communication between holders of the diaries, as each can be imprinted by different parties. Note: all entries in one diary will be copied to the other and vice versa. This process will render the results indelible in the opposite diary, which will not mean vanishing text or using disappearing ink will not have a bearing on how the text appears in the diary's counterpart, so one must use the utmost certainty in making entries in either diary. Also note: imprinting must take place before the diaries are usable. Until both diaries are imprinted, any attempts to write will vanish after a few moments. To order a replacement companion diary, or to order extra pages, please contact:_

_Chartus' Enchanted Stationery_

_40 New Bond St, London_

Hermione was quite intrigued by the possibilities a diary like this posed for her. She loved the idea, and knew that Jake must have anticipated their inability to use computers once they arrived at Hogwarts. She imagined he had to rush off to do something utterly important and had left it so they could communicate further. Her head rushed a little at the sweet gesture. She had never been one for showing material affection, preferring to make or charm the gifts she gave her friends, but she didn't mind being doted on at all. If only she knew who was doting on her!

Hermione stood up carefully and smoothed out her clothing. She felt that she looked utterly ridiculous, and without another thought, transfigured her clothing until it covered her suitably. Now wearing denim capris and the same t-shirt now at a normal fit and size, she found the sun beating down against her cloak to be stifling. She pulled the dark fabric off her shoulders, and made quick work of shrinking it to fit in her bag. She always felt important to carry the essentials with her at all times, in shrunken from. Her experience being friends with Harry and Ron had taught her that you could never be too prepared. She didn't want to shrink the journal, and it was lucky that it fit in her bag at full size. Something about shrinking a highly charmed object just seemed like a bad idea.

Now feeling much more comfortable, if still curious about who she had missed meeting today, she made her way back out onto the busy street, and began to search for her friends.


	21. The First of the Lasts

**Author's Note:**

**Okay, note of apology and groveling has been replaced with a new chapter! Enjoy!**

**And just to answer some of the reviewer's questions…**

**Anon: You must remember that Hermione's birthday is September 19, 1979, meaning she is almost 12 when she starts Hogwarts. So she would have turned 17 the year before this fanfic began, and she will be 18 a couple weeks into the school year.**

**SacredMoon: Yes, Pansy is my little pawn *rubs hands mischievously**

**And thanks also to these other reviewers: Draco-Hermy, pohkeemawn (love the name), BookwormGirl97, and of course the inimitable Irene O'Reilly who inspired me to start back on this fic!**

**Chapter 20**

Hermione perched hesitantly at the edge of her seat in the Head's cabin on the Hogwarts Express. She pulled at her off-white t-shirt and smoothed nonexistent wrinkles from her dark denim jeans. It would seem a little overeager to be wearing her Hogwarts robes already, she had thought, but had of course fastened her Head Girl badge over her heart. She had fought with the badge so much that morning. She just couldn't make it look right on the casual t-shirt she wore. The shirt was by no means as baggy and forgiving as her Hogwarts robes, and she felt uncomfortable positioning the shining badge over the one spot she knew immature men liked to ogle.

Hermione tried to take her mind off her nervousness, and instead turned her attention to the station outside the window on her left. The open expanse next to the train had space for the Hogwarts Express on its return trip. Being that the magical station they awaited departure in was only used by this train, there were no rows of cars or bustling families or businessmen to distract her, only the occasional puffs of steam cascading from the engine. Hermione didn't know why Harry and Ron never wanted to sit towards the front of the train. From her vantage point in the first compartment, she could see well down the tracks to the scenery she'd experienced on her first trip to Hogwarts. The long trestle bridge over the glassy water of River Fleet on its way to join the Thames, followed by the dark tunnel under the rolling hill they always passed through on their way out of London. It was all so beautiful, and Hermione realized this would be her last time seeing it from this direction, from these windows, on her way to Hogwarts for the final time.

The sliding door to the compartment slid open, jolting Hermione out of her reverie.

"Oh. Hello Hermione," Luna said to the other girl, in her ever-surprised and dreamy tone.

"Luna!" Hermione exclaimed with a warm smile. "You're a Ravenclaw prefect?"

"Yes," Luna replied, unblushingly. "I may not be as smart as you, but I suppose I had enough knowledge to be appointed," she went on, staring glassy-eyed out the window.

Sometimes Hermione wondered if there was something other than her unique world views that made Luna so loopy. Smiling again, though, Hermione nodded, and patted the seat to her left for Luna to sit with her. "I haven't gotten any information from McGonagall about what to expect as far as the prefects go," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Or even the Head Boy!" she added.

"Oh I'm sure you will find out all you need to know soon enough," Luna said cryptically.

A moment later a large horned owl came flapping up to the compartment window. Hermione stared at Luna blatantly.

"What can I say," Luna said with a lopsided smile, "I'm wonderful at Divinations."

Hermione continued to stare for a moment, and then leaned in front of Luna who was closer to the window. After a moment something clicked, and she said matter-of-factly, "You saw the owl coming through the window, didn't you?"

Luna grinned and nodded vigorously, losing herself in peals of laughter as Hermione reached over her to let the owl in.

The owl was clearly from Hogwarts, and the packet of papers was held in an envelope bearing the Hogwarts Crest. Hermione took the envelope from the owl, which gave a dignified hoot and left directly from the window, expecting neither treats nor a response.

Hermione fingered the thick parchment happily, the heavy responsibility of her role doing nothing to weigh down her high spirits. She leafed through the pages, looking over the blank schedules that were yet to be filled in with responsibilities for rounds – she remembered from being a prefect that it fell to the two heads to assign them during the meeting – as well as a comprehensive list of rules in a tiny script that made it handy for carrying during rounds and included suggested point deductions for lesser offenses and detention sentences for worse crimes. Hermione knew from experience that the prefects would rarely find reason to assign detention, as most of the heftier offenses required they call a head or a professor for discipline.

Luna leaned over Hermione's shoulder at the loose leaf parchments pages she held, and asked, "Is there a list of prefects?"

Hermione shuffled a couple pages and came to a list. "Ravenclaw, there's you and Michael Bradley… Hufflepuff is Zacharias Smith and Sarah Stebbins… Gryffindor is Colin Creevey, oh well done Colin, and Romilda Vane… and Slytherin is Malcolm Baddock and Astoria Greengrass."

"All in all good students and lots of Quidditch players," Luna noted.

"'Yes, I suppose I'll need the Quidditch Captains to work around their schedules, as I'll be assigning the rounds before they have tryouts," Hermione said fairly.

"Who says _you'll _be doing the assignments, Granger?" A loathsome voice said from above. Hermione needn't even lift her head to know who that was. In her shock she didn't even fight back as the speaker ripped the parchment stack from her hands and shuffled through it. "I _am_ Head Boy, after all," Draco Malfoy finished, his characteristic sneer playing across his face. He quickly looked through the parchment pages, commenting over the list of prefects, "Weird… git… suck up… push-over…snitch…ugly… and I guess the Slytherins are okay. Malcolm is on the team and Astoria's pretty hot." Malfoy lost interest in the stack after the list of prefects and turned to leave, tossing it over his shoulder at Hermione as he went. Mocking a yawn, he said "I'll be in my compartment if you need me," and proceeded to stroll out the doorway, stopping traffic to lean back in and say "Don't need me," sternly.

Hermione's mouth just hung open through the entire affair. She was for once in her life at a loss for words. Who did he think he was? Who in their right mind would stick him in a position of power? For that matter, who would make her deal with him?

Luna placed a hand on her shoulder and Hermione realized she had been sputtering little half sentences consisting of "Who... How… Why… What?"

"I think it will all be for the best," Luna said fairly, while gathering the mess of papers Malfoy had left in his wake. "He doesn't seem to want the position any more than you want to deal with him."

Hermione sank down into her seat, her furious face in her hands to hide the blush she got in moments of passion. "Now I have to deal with him our double classes while studying for NEWTs _and_ doing the work of two Heads _and_ still maintain some semblance of a social life… No one told me my last year would be this hard!" Hermione moaned, giving in to her selfish little fit for a few moments. Luna rubbed her back kindly, and reminded Hermione that everything was not about her, and Hermione took a few long deep breaths to calm herself. Hermione sat up and felt the heat drain from her face just in time to see the next few prefects entering the compartment. She made a decision, and turned to Luna.

"Will you hand out these blank schedules?" she asked Luna, who nodded. "Wait, let me…" she said, waving her wand over the stack of papers. "_Geminium Totalus. _There, now while we discuss, I can fill out this top sheet, and the rest will mimic what I've written." Hermione picked up her bag and smoothed her clothing out. "I have a rodent to tame," she announced, and made her way out of the compartment and down the hall.

Hermione stopped when she heard raucous laughter from a compartment to her right, and spied Slytherin colors within. Hermione slid the door open loudly and unceremoniously. Wan in hand she locked onto the smarmy blonde's grey eyes and put on her best McGonagall voice.

"Draco Malfoy, by some miracle upon high you have been mistakenly given the privilege of being Head Boy. If you don't want to disappoint the maybe two people in the world who are rooting for you at this point, you need to get your slimy ferret self back in that compartment, because I will not be doing all the Head duties on my own!" Hermione's hair fell in front of her eyes at that moment, totally undermining any severity she had at that moment, but as she brushed it back from her face and tucked it behind her ear, she noticed to her surprise that Malfoy had indeed stood up, and seemed ready to follow her.

Draco felt himself almost compelled to do whatever the girl said. After all it wasn't every day you got a girl all riled up enough to yell at you in front of your mates. Well, then again, he wDraco Malfoy... Still, he couldn't help but watch her as she had yelled at him. Something about her was different, beyond just the taming of her massive bush of a mane. No, there was something decidedly more womanly about her. He mentally shook the feelings out of his head but not fast enough to keep him from leaning in close and saying, "You know I love it when you yell at me," with a teasing smirk.

Hermione leaned back, taking herself to a more comfortable distance- though her lower half had no room to pull away – and just stared open-mouthed for the second time in less than 30 minutes at the self-proclaimed King of Slytherin. All the blood from her extremities chose that very moment to fill her face, and as she felt the heat of her blush, she had no choice but to turn and leave the stuffy compartment. She didn't leave without Malfoy, however, for she had been serious about not doing his share of the work. She grabbed him by the tie and half dragged him with her down the hallway, almost deserted by the students who had for the most part found their seats.

"Ow – Urf… Geroff!" Draco sputtered, finally pulling away from the madwoman's grip just outside the very front compartment of the train. "Are you crazy?" He yelled right in her face.

Nose to nose, though his much higher than hers, she looked up at the almost scarily mad Slytherin above her… and burst out laughing. "Geez, Draco," Hermione said between the laughter that she had almost confined to a chuckle, "I thought you had a sense of humor." The Slytherin was simply dumbfounded. That look worked on everyone. Everyone! "You might want to fix your tie, by the way," she added.

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't put your mud- muggleborn hands all over it," Draco muttered, not sure why he had opted to not use the curse word in front of her. Maybe it was because of the way he'd interacted with muggles this summer, little though it was. He put it from his mind and followed the no longer bushy-haired or buck-toothed girl into the Head compartment.


	22. On the Train

**A/N: I've been working on long term plans for the plot of this fic, and put a poll on my profile for input. Please vote!**

Chapter 21

Hermione pressed her fingers against her temple and sighed almost imperceptibly. After much arguing and fussing about pairings, they had finally settled the prefect watch schedule. The prefects didn't have as extensive duties as she would have as Head Girl, but it was also her job to keep them on point. Well, it was her and Malfoy's combined job. _Ugh_ Hermione groaned inwardly, shuffling the parchment in her hand. _I could do without having to share anything with him for a long time._

Seeing the page she needed, Hermione looked up at the Prefects sitting in the compartment with her. "Okay, all that's left for you on the train ride is to advise the first years on getting ready when we get close. I would say-"she looked at her watch for a moment, then continued, "about 45 minutes we should be sufficiently close and they should start changing. Once the train stops, we'll try to rein them in and get them all to the boats, as I'm sure you know. As always, answer any questions they might have, and do try to prevent any trouble you see starting," she finished, cutting her eyes toward the apathetic Slytherin lounging against the doorjamb. "Well, that's all, enjoy the rest of your ride, everyone."

Hermione smiled as her new and old acquaintances left the compartment, noting that Malfoy had left before she'd even finished her last sentence. _Good riddance,_ she thought, though she knew good and well this headache would be something she'd have to get used to this year. Hermione was torn between the beautiful vistas outside this window and going back to see her friends. She knew there would be plenty of time to talk at the feast – once the headmaster's speech was over, of course. So instead of rushing back to their compartment, she simply leaned her head against the cool window for a few moments of sweet silence.

Time flew faster than she'd realized, and soon thirty minutes had passed. Hermione decided it was time to go ahead and get dressed, so she pulled her trunk down from the overhead rack. Right on top was her nicely pressed Hogwarts uniform, just waiting for her. It instilled a note of confidence in Hermione, along with a trill of excitement at the prospects of the year, and a tinge of sadness, for this would be the last time she dressed on the Hogwarts Express.

Hermione checked that the compartment door was closed, though she was upset to see the lock was broken. _Oh well,_ she thought, casting the worry aside. She would just be quick. She pulled down the window shades and slipped out of her dark denim jeans. Sure, she loved the classy prep school look of her Hogwarts uniform, but Hermione had a great fondness for a well-fitting pair of jeans. Nothing felt so comforting- or made you look so good. She didn't always feel comfortable in the charcoal grey pleated skirt that was part of her uniform, but especially now, when she had grown considerably since buying it. She really should have gotten another one, since this skirt was not bought in a muggle shop and could not be charmed into fitting. Hermione supposed that was robe makers in the wizarding world's way of ensuring that their livelihoods would be maintained. The skirt wasn't too bad unless she bent over, and anyway she was always wearing the long black robes over it.

Hermione slipped on the skirt, and quickly swapped her t-shirt for a button down blouse. Facing away from the compartment door, she took her time buttoning it up, relishing the scrape of ivory buttons against starched cotton button holes. She always felt a little bit like a librarian in this outfit, which she certainly didn't mind. Hermione laughed as she remembered her childhood. She had been a librarian every single year for Halloween, at least for the ones she was old enough to choose her own costume that is. Her parents thought it was the cutest thing, and would always take her shopping for the preppy clothes she desired. And of course, there were the glasses. Seems like every year she bought a new pair of reading glasses for the costume. She couldn't see through any of them, but that never deterred Hermione's excitement for the costume. Sometimes she missed when things were that simple.

Hermione hiked her foot up onto the seat, and inched her toes into the long grey knee socks, leaning forward to balance against the train's forward momentum. Sliding her sock up her smooth leg, she thanked whatever had possessed her and her mother to get waxes last week. She never had time to do things like shave and care about her hair while she was at Hogwarts. There was always too much to do between studying and helping Harry save the world practically every single year. She ran the pads of her fingers across the crimson and gold embroidery at the top of the sock. She wondered if Gryffindor was a title she would carry with her into the real world. Would the petty little rivalries from her school girl days even matter once she graduated and got a job?

A thump behind her shocked Hermione and she turned just in time to see a flash of blonde leave the space outside the glass compartment door. Scowling, she slipped her Mary Janes over her feet, fastening the clasps as quickly as her shaking fingers would allow her.

Sufficiently dressed, albeit missing her robe, she dashed out the door into the hall, where she saw no sign of the person she thought had been peeping at her. She could have been wrong. There were plenty of blondes at Hogwarts. _No, _she rebutted in her mind, _not _that _blonde._

After making it about halfway down the train, Hermione decided to give up on pursuing the ferret and turned her attention to the first years instead. Peeking into the compartments, she popped her head into any room with students not in Hogwarts robes to let them know the train was approaching their destination. After not too many compartments, she spied a bushy head of red hair pushing through a Hogwarts jumper, and popped in the compartment to see her friends.

Harry and Ginny were doubled over as if in pain – no wait, it was laughter? Hermione looked to Neville, who was wiping mirthful tears off his face. Luna stood up, well out of Ron's line of fire and whispered to Hermione, "_His head's stuck in his jumper!"_

Hermione laughed as well for just a split second, before moving to help Ron pull it on. With a few intense moments of pulling and tugging, the Weasley boy's head finally jolted free of the jumper's tight neckline.

"You okay, mate?" asked harry, trying to look like he wasn't laughing.

"Stupid second hand robe shop…" Ron muttered, his face as violently red as his hair.

Hermione looked over her best friend, and it was clear that he had had yet another growth spurt over the summer. His slacks were just barely too short, but his sweater really didn't fit anymore over what seemed to be… muscles? His arms were much bigger than Hermione remembered, and the poor wool knit fabric seemed to be straining to hold its fibers together. Hermione made a mental note of what Ron really needed for Christmas, even if she knew he'd never accept it from her. Maybe she just wouldn't sign the card?

"Well, now that Ron's out of imminent danger," Hermione said with a chuckle, "How are you guys?" Hermione asked.

A chorus of nods and "good"s came back, and Hermione turned to Neville.

"It's been so long since I've seen you!" she exclaimed, hugging the clumsy boy to her.

Neville grinned as he pulled away, and said, "Boy Hermione, you look…" he stopped and seemed to search for the word, "Great!"

Hermione blushed a little, and said, "Thanks Neville, I guess we've all grown up a little this year."

Ron grabbed his sister and pulled her under his arm and rubbed her hair with his knuckles, saying, "Not Ginny! She's my ickle baby sister!"

Ginny screamed in frustration as she was overpowered by her older brother, by only a year and five months, she often pointed out. Realizing he was too strong to wrench herself away from, Ginny went completely limp, resting her entire body weight on Ron to get him to release her. Ti worked, and Ginny shot a hex up at Ron from the floor.

Ron's hair turned a putrid shade of green, while Ginny laughed on the floor, before remembering herself and fixing her hair where her brother had destroyed it. "Seriously Ron?" Ginny chided, it took me forever to get my hair to lay right!"

Hermione looked at her friend like she was crazy, first of all because Ginny's hair was effortlessly perfect, and second because she just happened to have a spell that turns your hair green ready to go.

"_Finite Incantatem_," Hermione said, removing the jinx from Ron. He looked at her questioningly, not realizing perhaps that he had been jinxed. "Your hair, Ron."

Ron grabbed his head and pulled at his hair, which seemed fine. "What?"

"Never mind," Hermione said, rolling her eyes at his inability to notice the simplest everyday things. "Well, I've got to go help the First Years," Hermione said with a small wave.

"Hey 'Mione," Harry said quickly, "Who's Head Boy?"

"Three guesses," Hermione replied with a deep scowl.


	23. The Perils of Eavesdropping

**A/N: A big thanks, once more, to all my reviewers. I was going over the old ones, chapter by chapter, and noticed a lot of you were hoping for Draco to either see Hermione's car, or at least realize he was her neighbor. Needless to say, I got some inspiration from that, and am adding an unplanned chapter today. I normally try to update on Monday Wednesday and Friday since those are the days I work (and am chained to a computer for 14 or so hours), so this should be a lesson to you to REVIEW! I'll update more, because you inspire me! Sorry if this is a little short, I didn't plan on writing this chapter… enjoy and review!**

Chapter 22

Draco yawned pointedly as the Granger girl prattled on about assignments for rounds and how to coddle Frist Years and whatever else she was saying. Honestly, it was so boring, he couldn't keep track of it long enough to finish an insult in his _mind_. Instead he turned his attention to the other prefects. He was almost happy to see the two Slytherin prefects. Malcolm was on the team with him as a beater. Draco couldn't count the number of times Malcolm had saved his ass out on the field. Not that it was something that merited friendship, or even a mention between them. No, it was more of a grunt-at-each-other-on-the-way-to-the-locker-room sort of situation. Still, having someone on his side made Draco feel a little better. He could trust Malcolm with his life, he knew that. Maybe not with his aged firewhiskey, but his life, definitely.

Astoria was something else entirely, though. Her older sister Daphne was a soft tempered, sweet woman, who barely seemed like she belonged in Slytherin. This was probably due to the fact that she roomed with Parkinson, and was thereby one of her evil little cronies. Pansy had this way of suppressing all the willpower from everyone around her. Draco felt like he was the only one not under her ugly spell. Astoria was nothing like her older sister, though. Astoria may have been two years younger than Daphne in school, but she was light-years ahead in sex appeal and glamour. Daphne was a waifish, pretty girl, who always wore her hair neatly back in a ponytail with a clean face. Astoria was, well hot. There was no other word for her. Dark chocolate hair with a glint of red (which surprisingly didn't remind Draco of the Weasleys) fell to her hips, and she always let it fly free. Her body was seldom constrained by the Hogwarts uniform, as she avoided it as much as possible, but when it had to be, you could barely say she was wearing it… it was more as though a few buttons were still clinging to life and that the skirt just happened to grab onto the widest part of her hip bones and hold tight to them out of fear or respect. Her skin was an acceptable shade of pale, with no freckles or abnormalities, and around her neck was always her family crest.

The joke around the common room was that boys would "like to change her family crest." Draco knew this was just the pureblooded way of saying they wanted to bang her. The only thing about Astoria though, was that she didn't do any of that. She just oozed this sex appeal and attraction, but Draco couldn't remember a single guy she'd been with – or even dated. Maybe her parents were more of the arranged marriage types. His parents had attempted that nonsense with Pansy as his betrothed, but with them gone – Draco caught himself. Looking around, the bucktoothed wonder was still talking, but he couldn't stand to be in there anymore. He wouldn't let any of them see him get choked up over mum and dad.

Draco got out of the compartment as quickly as possible and stood in the hall for a moment, calming his thumping heart. He only had a moment, though, as the prefects started to leave the compartment behind him. Draco realized he may have left at the ideal time. Just long enough to look like he cared, but early enough to still undermine her authority. Honestly, he had the best timing. _Good breeding, must be,_ he thought to himself, his self-satisfied smirk back where it belonged.

Draco made his way to the back of the train, where his friends were no doubt utterly paralyzed by boredom without him. However, as he reached the compartment door, the conversation made him stop in his tracks.

Pansy's voice floated out of the door. "I think it's so sad. My poor Drakey doesn't have anyone to take care of him anymore," she simpered.

Blaise responded gruffly, "You're just upset his parents can't enforce a hold on his inheritance til he marries you." A clank came from the wall next to where Draco lurked. Obviously Pansy had thrown something at him.

Goyle, in his unrelenting stupidity, found it the right moment to chime in, "Well, his parents weren't worth much anyway. Lucius was the one who got himself thrown into Azkaban." Draco knew that his father had been in Azkaban, but the next thing out of Goyle's mouth shocked him – "No one told him to try to escape. I hear the Dementors tortured him for hours before they actually gave him the kiss," he finished, whispering conspiratorially.

The next sound shocked Draco even more… laughter! The whole compartment of his friends, his peers, everyone he thought he kind of didn't hate that much, was laughing at him! Draco couldn't take it. He ran down the hall of the train until he couldn't go any farther.

Busting his way through the back door of the train, Draco stood on the tiny balcony-like landing that faced out over the receding tracks. Slamming the door behind him, Draco screamed into the emptiness of the growing dark behind the train. There was nothing that could console him. His father was a coward. A complete and total coward. Caught trying to escape Azkaban? His mother, his whole extended family told him Lucius was alive and had successfully escaped. That meant his father died months before he knew about it. Her must have been in St. Mungo's in a permanent vegetative state if he received the Dementor's kiss.

How long did he suffer there? How long did his mother sit by his father's bedside before she just couldn't take it anymore? Was he even at his own funeral? Draco had been told there was no body to recover. Was he really even dead? Or was he rotting in some hospital bed. Was seeing him lying there, soulless the reason his mother took her life last Christmas? Was she visiting his father the whole time he was at school?

Draco fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. The hole deep in his chest that had seemed to lessen over the summer ripped open again, larger and more painful than ever before. The betrayal and pain and loneliness and hopelessness ran through him like blood, coursing through his veins, forcing his broken heart to keep beating. All he wanted was to die.

No. Draco knew that wasn't the way. He would not go the way of his mother. He could still remember the look on her face when he found her. She knew it was wrong, when it was too late to undo what she had done. Draco swore to himself that no matter what, he would not take his own life.

"Not as if anyone would be left to cry for me anyway," he muttered, going back in the train. Pushing aside his grief at the revelation, all he wanted to do was curse every single person in that compartment. Reaching for his wand, Draco felt… fabric. He didn't have his wand. What the hell? He realized in his haste to get out of the prefects' compartment he must have left it behind.

"Bloody…" Draco muttered, making his way quickly down the very long train to the first compartment. Sliding to a stop, he reached for the handle to the compartment, which he assumed would be empty.

It was most certainly not! He saw a woman inside; in a not completely dressed state… she was wearing a Hogwarts skirt which fit a little too tightly across her womanly hips. Making his way up her slightly tanned body, which for once he did not find a repulsive shade of skin, he saw the lace of her bra stretching across her back. The smooth skin of her back was soon covered by a white blouse, and just as he was about to give up and wait around the corner until she left the compartment, she… bent over. It looked like whoever she was, she had almost outgrown her skirt. He could see the muscles moving under the smooth tanned skin of her upper thigh. Looking around, he felt instantly guilty, like he was peeping. But she was the one dressing in the open. Peering back through the window, something caught his eye. A flash of light danced off her hair, with golden and red streaks running through it. It glowed almost magically, but a memory took over Draco's vision, as he realized where he'd seen that hair before.

She was getting out of a silver Volvo in front of the house next door to him. He never had caught her face, but she seemed so clearly a muggle by the way she dressed that he had never given her a second thought. His neighbor was putting on her second long knee sock, and he could see just the edge of her cheekbone. If she would just turn a little more…

She crooked her head to the side, fingering the top of her sock, and Draco jumped back as he saw her face. _Granger!_ His mind screamed and he quickly tried to get away, but not without whacking his shoulder against the door in the process. _Shit!_ His mind raced as he tried to get away. With lightning fast reflexes, he grabbed the nearest compartment door and jumped in, pulling it shut behind him and dropping straight to the floor. After a few moments, he knew she must have missed him slipping in, and looked up to meet the eyes of 7 Ravenclaws.

"What are you looking at?" he spat out hatefully, and peered out the door to see if the coast was clear. He saw Granger way down the hall, about halfway up the train, and held his breath… but she went into a compartment. She must not have seen him.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Draco went back to the prefect's compartment and found his Hawthorn wand stuck between the seat and the wall. Draco sat on the offending seat and buried his head in his hands as he considered what he knew. One, Hermione Granger, bane of his existence and utter know-it-all was his neighbor. Two, she dressed like a muggle slut when she was on holiday! Three, he had been oddly… attracted to her body. He shook his head, trying to get the feeling out of it. It was despicable, being attracted to one as repulsive as her. He tried to rationalize that he would have been attracted to a half-naked female body no matter who it belonged to.

Somehow, it didn't make him feel any better that a small part of his mind wanted to know what that skin felt like against his cold hands.


	24. Positively Spewing

**A/N: *squee!* We surpassed 100 reviews last night, out of nowhere! Thanks to all my new reviewers: Booksmusiclove, Dancing-souls, SilverOwlMalfoy, and DramioneForever123**

**And just a couple responses:**

**DramioneForever123: I started this story when I was 17, but didn't pick it back up until recently, and I am now 24. I know; longest hiatus ever! You can really tell in the writing style, which makes me kinda sad… **

**Dancing-Souls: I loved watching your reactions through reviews as you were reading! It really helped me inspiration-wise!**

Chapter 23

It took a while for Hermione to get Harry calmed down. The Boy-Who-Lived was simply livid over Draco Malfoy of all people getting Head Boy.

"What are they thinking?" Harry spat, "He's practically a death eater!"

"Well," said Hermione thoughtfully, "He never did become a death eater, and now I hear both his parents are dead. So unless his Auntie Bellatrix "-she grimaced- "is recruiting him, I don't think he's going to be that big of a threat."

"Not that big of a threat?" Harry responded incredulously.

"Are you kidding me, Hermione?" Ron chimed in. "He's made our lives hell for six years! He's been especially nasty to you over those years. How can you be okay with this?"

"Stop it Ron," Hermione chided. "Just stop right now with assuming you know what I think or how I feel or what I'm trying to say. Stop putting words in my mouth and listen to me. Despite how he's been to us, despite who his family is, just think of his history at Hogwarts. He gets really good grades, and he was second in our class for O.W.L.S. He's been the Slytherin prefect for two years, and even though in retrospect this isn't a resume-padder, he was in the Inquisitorial Squad-"

Harry snorted derisively.

"-which at the time was a recognized disciplinary group in the school. Really, his track record at Hogwarts is clean and shiny, unless you include detentions, which given our histories with those, I would suggest we don't." Hermione eyed the boys in front of her pointedly.

Harry let out a long sigh. "I guess you're right, on paper he's the perfect candidate. That doesn't mean we have to like the idea of him with that much power."

Ron nodded, and then said, "Hey, train's stopping. Don't you have somewhere to be, Head Girl?" he chuckled amiably.

Hermione however, didn't laugh, and with a frustrated cry, turned and rushed to the front of the train. She made it up there before the train had come to a complete stop, so she gave herself a once over. She made sure her clothes were unruffled and that her Head Girl badge was straight, before looking up and locking eyes with the last person she wanted to see.

"Vain much?" Draco taunted, his left eyebrow raised just enough to get on Hermione's last nerve.

"Peep on girls dressing much?" she retorted as he took his place next to her to wave the First Years on towards the boats.

"Ah, vanity again I see Granger. You consider yourself attractive enough to be peeped on."

"Shut up," she hissed, neither of them taking their eyes off the swarm of students ahead of them, instead directing their pointed words out the sides of their mouths to the person beside them.

"Have you ever thought that maybe I was waiting for you to finish defiling the compartment so that I could use it?" he purported with an air of mock innocence.

"Then why did you run when I saw you?"

"Maybe I was running from your disgusting face."

"Oh, real classy. Your face jokes?"

"What?"

"Never mind, muggle thing. Just go out and get closer to the boats, I'll go check for stragglers," Hermione said, tired of arguing already.

"You know I don't take orders from muggle-borns. Even ones with hot asses!' Draco called after her. He had no idea what made him say that, but he was sure she would drive herself crazy trying to figure that out herself.

Hermione blushed furiously, her mind devising ways to torture Malfoy that couldn't be traced back to her. She couldn't believe he had yelled that! One minute he's calling her disgusting, and then he's crudely complimenting her ass? She knew he had yelled it just to get on her last nerve and embarrass her in front of the remaining students on the train. However, instead of making her feel shy and violated, the remark just made her feel wrathful and hateful and really _really_ want revenge.

Hermione just wanted to get to the castle, eat dinner and go get lost in the bathtub in the Prefect's bathroom. Hermione realized that she hadn't even thought about the perks of being Head Girl. She remembered that when Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater were Head Boy and Girl, they had mentioned sharing a common room. But if Percy didn't stay in Gryffindor tower, how was he always there when anything went awry? Hermione figured she'd leave that question for Professor McGonagall when she got to the castle.

Hermione finished her sweep of the train, finding only one straggler, a First Year who had gotten locked in the lavatory. She looked into the last compartment, and saw something she had never seen before.

Outside the window, hundreds of House Elves appeared, all within a few seconds of each other. Hermione watched out the window with awe as they all made their way in an almost military fashion onto the train. She leaned out into the hall to see what the elves were doing, and watched in amazement as groups of elves entered each compartment, carrying trunks 6-7 times their size over their heads and out of the train. Once a student's set of luggage was complete, an elf would sit on top of the bags, then snap, and the bags and the elf would vanish.

Hermione watched out the window again with tears in her eyes. This was simply barbaric! Those trunks and bags had to weigh 4 times as much as the poor little elves did. And the strain of carrying a bag like that during side-along apparition had to be really stressful on their magic. As Hermione watched the defenseless elves blindly follow their master's demands, she knew what she had to do. She ran to her compartment, which was just past where the elves had so far reached.

She ducked in the compartment and saw that her trunk was still there. _Yes,_ she thought, _I can actually help them for once!_ She pulled the trunk down from the luggage rack above the seats and dragged it out into the hallway of the train. Turning to take it out the front end, she was stopped by what seemed to be the tiniest elf, who was wearing a Hogwarts tea towel as a skirt.

"Excuse me," Hermione said to the elf, assuming she would move out of her way.

"No, Miss. Miss mustn't do that," the elf replied, her large brown eyes flicking from side to side nervously.

"Why not? I can certainly stand to take my own trunk to the castle."

"No Miss is not proper. Miss is taking GiGi's job!" The elf began to pull on the bottom of the trunk, trying to wrench it out of Hermione's hands.

"It's so heavy! There's no reason you should have to carry this!" Hermione exclaimed, pulling back against the elf's surprisingly strong grip.

"Miss is being -ugh- foolish!"

"It's… ok" Hermione pulled with all her might, "I'm… taking it."

"Miss," GiGi said firmly. "You. Insults. GiGi. Trunk is not too heavy. GiGi uses magic!"

Hermione fell forward as the trunk flew up into the air over GiGi's head. The elf placed her hands gently underneath the trunk, guiding it along with her to the outside of the train. Hermione looked up from the floor, for once feeling foolish. She thought she was doing what was the right thing for the elves. As she stood up and brushed the carpet fuzz off her knees and robe, she thought to herself that maybe all along she was just being selfish. She wanted so badly to make a difference. Harry and Ron were right though. House elves didn't need to be set free to be liberated. They enjoyed their jobs and defended them even to the point of fighting off a witch. She had a little more hope for elf-kind now.

Hermione made it to the point where the thestral-drawn carriages normally stood and noticed there was one left, waiting for her it would seem. She came around the left side of the carriage and saw a figure in front of the thestrals. She raised her wand apprehensively, saying "_Lumos,_" quietly. The tip of her wand flared with light and she saw for the third time that day, the last person she wanted to see.

"What are you doing here Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

"What, no thank you? I kept the carriage from leaving you," he replied, eyes still locked on the thestrals before him.

"Yeah, I guess I owe you for that one. Not like I'm a healthy woman capable of walking or anything," she said, rolling her eyes. Still, she got in the carriage, part of her thankful that she wouldn't have to trek all the way up to the castle alone.

Draco got in beside her, making sure not to accidentally touch her, Hermione noticed.

And with that, the Head Boy and Head Girl made their way up to the castle, with silence and starlight as their only companions.


	25. After Dinner

Chapter 24

By the time Hermione and Malfoy reached the Great Hall, the sorting had been finished and the feast was just beginning to appear in the many dishes, bowls and tureens across the tables. Hermione gazed in wonder at the beautiful room for just a moment, as this would be the last time she stepped foot in it after a summer vacation, and smiled. Even after being here for the previous 6 years, the room was exquisite. She felt almost cheap by calling it simply a room, for the way the enchanted sky shone on the ceiling and the warm emotional environment that it exuded made it feel much more like a part of nature than a mere chamber within a castle.

Hermione shook herself out of her reverie, and made her way to the right and down the long Gryffindor table to where her friends waited. She took her usual seat across from harry and between Ron and Ginny, and grinned at her fellow housemates. To Harry's left was Dean Thomas, and to his right was Neville. Hermione smiled even wider when the dish in front of her filled with her favorite – steak and kidney pie. She happily served herself a generous spoonful and grabbed a dinner roll from in front of Ron in the process. She should have known better than to get in Ron's way while he was eating, but as his mouth was currently stuffed to the brim, she figured she wouldn't lose any limbs reaching like she did.

"So," Harry side, between bites of black pudding, "What took so long after the train got here?"

"Oh, well there was a first year locked in the lavatory," Hermione said, eyes on her plate. She didn't really want to go into the house elf situation if she could help it.

"And that took so long you missed the sorting?" He asked with a smile, knowing that Hermione's spellwork wasn't lacking enough to take so long with a countercurse.

"Well, I had to check the _whole_ train. It took a while," She said, trying to be clear that she would _not_ be going into any more detail.

"How did you get back?" Ginny asked, her curiosity not as strong as her urge to wipe the pudding from around Harry's mouth. She handed him a napkin.

"Malfoywaitedforme," she said quickly and quietly, then continued at a normal tone and speed, "I took the carriages."

"What was that?" Ginny said, her eyebrow quirked up to match her curious smile.

"Nothing! Gosh!" Hermione said exasperatedly. Hermione turned her attention to the Head Table where the professors sat, enjoying their dinners. "Who's that?" she asked, pointing at a raven haired witch with dark purple robes sitting to McGonagall's left.

"Oh, they announced that at the beginning," Ron said, his mouth blissfully free from food before speaking (for once). "It's Professor… um…"

"Geez Ron, you are so forgetful," Ginny scolded. "She's Zamira Gulch, teaching the household and workplace magic course that you seventh years have to take. I on the other hand, do not." She stuck her tongue out for a moment, while Hermione had a revelation.

"I wondered why we had to buy _Practical Household Magic_ for this year! She literally wrote the textbook for that class! Wow, I can't believe I get to meet the author!" Hermione was practically sparkling with excitement.

From across the Great Hall, Draco could see Granger practically bouncing in her seat. Either she just found out she was having the weasel's spawn or somebody told her she got to take extra exams this year. He rolled his eyes before turning them back to his food. He was sitting with his so called 'friends,' even though he knew better than to call them that anymore. They didn't realize they'd done or said anything wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to engage in their conversation. They'd probably all assume he was just being his usual scowly self. Little did they know, he was planning their respective undoings.

Draco looked up where the faculty sat at their table. He saw a couple professors he didn't recognize. For the first time since coming in, he spoke up,, directing his question to the platter of turkey legs to his left, "Who's the new Defense teacher?" he asked.

Blaise responded despondently, "Professor Trimble. Looks like they went with authors as professors this year. Gulch is an author too. Both of 'em had the stones to assign their own book for the class." The Slytherin rolled his eyes at the idea, knowing that it was a pretty good scheme to make some extra cash. He would have to remember that one.

Draco, nodded, "How good can your book be if the only way you can sell it is by making it mandatory?" The two Slytherins laughed shortly. Too much mirth over here was a very bad thing.

After the desserts had been cleared away, the time came for the prefects to lead their house's respective First years to their respective dormitories. Hermione looked over her shoulder to Draco, who also seemed nonplussed as to what to do. After all, the prefects had the first year situation under control. Hermione shrugged, and decided to just go to Gryffindor tower and get ready for bed.

Hermione waited for the First Years to clear out, wanting to avoid the traffic jam that always ensued at the doors to the Great Hall. Once they were gone, she made her way across the main hallway to the stairwell. This was a crux point in the castle, where one could go up to the classrooms and towers, or down to the dungeons for potions as well as the Slytherin and Hufflepuff dormitories.

As Hermione began to ascend the stairwell, a glint below and to her left caught her eye. There was a door there, which she had never noticed before. She walked back down the steps, avoiding the downward spiral staircase to the door, where she noticed a brass plate which said "Head Dormitories." Below it was a knocker in the shape of an Egyptian Sphinx. She reached out to touch it, but jumped back when the Sphinx moved!

The Sphinx stretched its neck and faced Hermione. "If you wish to enter, you must answer this riddle:

_To you, rude would I never be,  
Though I flag my tongue for all to see._"

Hermione thought for a moment, choosing her answer carefully. After a few moments, she answered, "The answer is a dog." She sincerely hoped she was right, for if this sphinx was anything like a real one, answering a question wrong had dire consequences.

The sphinx nodded, and the door opened before Hermione. Inside was dark. She lit her wand quietly, and the tip flared to light, showing her she was in a hall of some sort. It was short and narrow, but the flooring was a plush carpet, rather than the hard marble of the entranceway.

Inching forward, Hermione felt along the door for a handle, and found a round knob to her right. Turning it, she squinted her eyes at the change in lighting. Extinguishing her wand, she peered into the room before her. There was a merry fire crackling in the fireplace, which had a large stonework hearth. There were two cushy armchairs, much like the ones in the Gryffindor common room and a black leather couch with a chaise lounge extending from the far end. To the left of the sitting area was a large table with inkwells and stands to prop up books. She was excited to see the table, as it was so hard to find a good place to study in the library without people being loud and annoying around her. The table had two chairs on either end, each with a dark wood back and a black leather seat.

The walls were draped with dark purple fabric, which reminded Hermione of the new professor's robes. At the end of the room were two identical doorways. She pushed at the one on the right, but it didn't open. Confused, she tried the left, which gave way under her touch with a clicking sound. Inside was a beautiful four poster bed decorated much the way her Gryffindor dormitory had been with crimson sheets and gold pillowcases. On the walls were various decorations, including a Gryffindor crest and an anatomical drawing of an Abraxan, which was a winged horse she had learned about in Care of Magical Creatures Class. _I'm probably the only person that learned anything in that class,_ she thought to herself.

On each of the side walls there was a door. She tried the one on the right first, which led to a sumptuous bathroom. It was not quite as big as the prefects' bathroom, but just as luxurious. Above the large tub was a mural made completely of seashells. The bathtub below it was absolutely gorgeous. Covered completely in shades of blue tile, it had at least 10 faucets and was about 6 feet across and round. She noticed an eleventh faucet above, the edge of the tile which controlled the shower head above it. Hermione noticed that there was a shower curtain hidden partially on one side, which upon pulling it out, stretch around the entire tub.

Inside another, smaller door, was the WC, which was light blue porcelain to match the tub. Leaving that area she turned to face a long countertop which was deeper blue, with two individual sinks. The wall behind it was covered by a long mirror, at least 8 feet across and 4 feet tall. Over each of the sinks were clear glass shelves, which she almost hadn't noticed. The faucets were glistening silver, and next to each sink was a hand towel monogrammed with HG and HB. Peering under the sink, she found more towels with similar monograms, all the HG monogrammed ones were on her side of the bathroom. _How cute!_ She thought, _My initials are HG; Head Girl, Hermione Granger. _She smiled, then turned to the other door opposite hers. It must lead into the locked room from before. She tried to open that door, but it wouldn't budge either. She realized then, that the other room belonged to Draco Malfoy. _Ugh, _she pouted, _at least he can't get in my room, though._

She went back into the bedroom and approached the other door. Pressing against it, she found the base of a spiral staircase. She followed it up, and up, and up, until she almost thought of turning back, when She stopped in front of another door. She opened it, and found a tapestry in her way. Pushing it aside, she realized she was in the Gryffindor common room!

Grinning, Hermione saw that Ron, Harry and Ginny were sitting by the fireplace. Harry looked especially happy to be there. She realized that unlike her Ron and Ginny, this place was more home than anywhere else for Harry. Sneaking up behind their couch, she pulled out her wand, and just behind them, shot a plume of confetti into the air with a bang. The three Gryffindors jumped up and spun. Harry had his wand trained on Hermione for a split second, until he recognized her laughing face and wiped his forehead comically.

"Whew, 'Mione," he said, laughing lightly, "You scared the dung out of us!"

"Sorry, I couldn't resist!"

"Where have you been?" asked Ron. 'We were started to think Malfoy had you locked up somewhere."

"Oh no, I just have a different dormitory since I'm Head Girl. Want to come see?" she asked, excited.

"Sure!" said Ginny, grabbing her friend's hand. "Where to?"

Hermione led them to the tapestry, which was one of Selina Sapworthy, who was known for being an aide to the International Quidditch Team as well as writing a book on herbology. The four friends descended the stairwell and as the door closed, they disappeared into darkness.


	26. Old Habits

Chapter 25

Draco had made it all the way in the Slytherin common room, up the stairs and into the 7th year dormitory before he realized he didn't live there anymore. Well, he assumed he didn't live there, since there was one less bed in the room and his trunk was nowhere to be found. Draco kicked the nearest trunk out of frustration, then hopped around in pain while his big toe throbbed inside his fine Italian leather shoes.

_Okay, _Draco thought to himself. _Where would I be supposed to stay? It must be some sort of Head Boy thing going on…_

Draco left the Slytherin common room, and made his way down the long dank passageway that connected the Slytherin Dungeon to the rest of the castle. Living under the Lake in the Slytherin Dungeon wasn't as bad as all the other houses imagined. Sure, the lake water gave everything a greenish hue, and the decorator must have been half dead when they designed it, but it also made a gently swishing sound which made it easy to slip off into dreamless sleep. The sound of lake water kept him from studying on many a night, though. It was hard to force your eyes open when the sound was just so calming and inviting. The only thing that made him dislike being under the lake was the fact that every once in a while, you'd catch a glimpse of something terrible lurking out in the water, like the giant squid or merpeople. Draco had hated that squid since his first year. He still held to his oath that if he ever happened to be on the lake with means to kill the giant squid, then he would. At least then he'd have a nearly never-ending supply of ink.

Draco knew he couldn't blame his lack of studying on the location of his dormitory, though. He had never really been all that invested in school. He tried really hard at first, but being outdone by the mudblood at every turn really took a toll on him. Sure he was talented, but what was talent without practice? He practiced the spells and subjects he liked, so he excelled in Potions, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, but things like charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts fell to the wayside a little, and then completely pointless classes like Divination and Astronomy were simply out of the question.

Draco made it to the main hallway, but hadn't found anything that indicated a dormitory. As he stood facing the stairs that went down where he'd come from and up to where he took most of his classes, he thought of an idea. He, regrettably, remembered a spell from the Tri-Wizard Tournament, where the Boy-Who-Lived failed to die. Laying his wand across his flattened upturned palm, he whispered "_Point me…_"

The wand spun of its own volition for a few rotations, then spun to a stop. Draco moved in the direction it was pointing, slightly to the left of the stairwell he had just ascended. Draco peered into the shaded corner, and saw a gleam of brass. There was a placard that said Head Dormitories. Head instantly thought it odd that there would be such a simple door in Hogwarts, protecting dormitories, no less. He looked down and realized the door had no knob. He assumed he had to knock. Lifting the sphinx shaped knocker, he felt a pang of pain in his palm. Yanking his arm back, he realized the sphinx on the knocker had bitten him!

"Ugh," Draco exclaimed, "Mind your manners, beast."

"Mind your tongue, fool," the knocker spat back at him.

"How do I get past you?" Draco demanded, not relishing the thought of being called a fool by an inanimate object.

"Answer the following riddle:

_Large as a mountain, small as a pea,  
Endlessly swimming in a waterless sea._

Draco just stood there, floored. A riddle? Would he have to do one of these every single day! Draco forced himself to concentrate. He was definitely getting in here. He just had to.

"Will you repeat it?" Draco asked, trying to sound kind. The sphinx repeated her riddle. Draco thought and thought and thought… and when he thought he had to give up, it dawned on him. "Asteroid. It's an asteroid!" he replied, triumphantly.

The sphinx nodded and the door opened to reveal a poorly lit hallway, the only light came from under the door at the end. Draco focused on that spot and made his way down the short passage, feeling his way around the second door for a handle. _Bingo! _he thought, as the door swung open, revealing a common room with a hearth crackling with fire. Draco looked around the room and saw chairs, tables, pretty standard stuff for a Hogwarts common room. He saw on the far wall two doors, and since it had been almost an hour since dinner, he really had to pee. He ran up to the one on the right, and the door opened under his hand. Giving a quick glance over the room, he saw what he assumed was the bathroom door, ran in and quickly found the WC.

He had to pee so badly he didn't even think to close the WC door. He simply stood over the toilet and finally relaxed as he relieved himself. Little did Draco know, he shared this bathroom. He shared it with a woman. He shared it with one of his biggest adversaries. And that adversary could bring her gang of do-gooders with her to that shared bathroom at anytime. Which, she at that moment happened to do.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Draco heard the click of the opposing door, a door which he didn't notice until that very moment. He turned and saw a head of fiery red hair on the other side, looking back rather than toward him as she pushed open the door. He heard laughter as the girl pushed into the room, and scrambled to shake himself clean and get covered up, since he would never pull up and fasten his pants in time. IN a last ditch attempt at decency, he grabbed one of the towels from behind the toilet and quickly put it over his… manly bits.

Ginny Weasley dropped her wand on the marble bathroom floor, hands flying to her mouth in shock and fright. Hermione's hands flew to her eyes, while Ron fell backwards in a dead faint. Harry turned terribly red and backed his way back into Hermione's room, shaking his head, as if he'd seen a ghost.

Draco backed into the tiny room with the toilet and was about to slam the door shut, when Hermione spoke up.

"Isn't that one of my towels?" she asked, dazedly.

Draco looked down. On the front of the folded towel was a dainty gold embroidery spelling HG. He looked back up, just in time for everyone still conscious on the other side of the bathroom to bust out into raucous laughter. Angry, he slammed the WC door and plopped down on the toilet, unbearably embarrassed.


	27. Bad Touch

**A/N: I'm squeezing in another chapter today since I won't be able to put a new chappie up Friday of this week. For once I have the weekend off work! This little scene just came to me, a lot more easily than the last one. Guess a part of me doesn't want him to be vulnerable just yet. Sorry if this one's a little short because of that fact, pure inspiration doesn't really have staying power with me. In other news, I started mapping out the plot more specifically! The chapters should come a little more easily and rapidly after this!**

**Anyway, enjoy, and review!**

Chapter 26

Hermione and the gang got a good laugh out of Draco's… predicament. Ron swore he would never be able to rid himself of the image of Draco half naked behind a folded towel. Harry had threatened to _scourgify_ his eyes out. Ginny just kind of chuckled and had a faraway look, almost as if in triumph. In any case, they saw neither hide nor hair of Malfoy the rest of that night.

Hermione hung out with her friends in the common area, lounging across the couches and chairs in front of the fire, until it was almost curfew.

Sighing, Harry stood first, saying, "I guess we should get going before curfew. After all there's a new sheriff in town." He cocked his hip like a cowboy and pushed up an imaginary cowboy hat, grinning at Hermione. She rolled around laughing, while Ron and Ginny just stared.

"I swear I will never get your muggle references," Ginny scoffed, standing as well.

Hermione led her three friends back up to her bedroom and to the door that connected back to the stairwell. She gazed down into the dark and had an idea. She dug around in her bag for a moment, and pulled out a jar she had been saving. Muttering an incantation, the bluebell flames Hermione enjoyed so much fell from her wand into the jar, which she sealed shut, since they needed neither air nor fuel.

Hermione attached the jar to the wall in the stairwell with a semi-permanent sticking jinx and smiled at her friends. "Now you'll always have light if you want to come visit me," Hermione said. "But the door only opens to my touch, I think, so you'll have to make sure I'm here first."

Harry and Ginny each hugged Hermione and made their way down the stars in the blue light. Ron, however, hung back, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

"Hey 'Mione," he muttered, looking down at the ground nervously.

Hermione got a little queasy in her stomach looking at Ron standing there. He was so big and lumbering, so why did he have this look on his face like he was a little kid in trouble for stealing from the biscuit tin? Ron looked up at her then (which wasn't very far of a distance for his eyes to travel, since he was already taller than Hermione), and she couldn't fathom the emotion there. It didn't make sense. "What is it, Ron?" she asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"'Mione, you know I've always, like, been happy to be around you right?" Ron stammered, barely getting the words out.

"Yes?" Hermione asked again, nonplussed.

"Well… I mean… I like you 'Mione, you know that. Like, I fancy you, right?" He said, as if he were trying to explain electricity (which he knew _nothing_ about) to a five year old.

"Ron-"Hermione began, but suddenly her lips were covered by his lips, his huge lumbering frame bearing down on her petite one. She tried her hardest to pull away, but the bulging in his arms apparently wasn't for nothing, and he held her close, in what she was sure he considered a loving embrace. Realizing her wand was still in her hand, she concentrated with all her might to attempt an unspoken stunning spell. Three or four painful moments, later, she succeeded, and the giant who had overcome her, fell to the ground, as if asleep.

"_Rennervate,"_ she muttered, holding her wand over Ron's prone form. His blue eyes opened, and he looked up at Hermione with questions dancing in them.

Hermione was finally overcome by the emotion of the situation, and silent tears began coursing down her cheeks. She was almost surprised to feel them there, and to feel them dripping from her chin down her chest. She just felt… numb. She shook her head slowly and pointed toward the door.

"Out," she barely croaked to him. He didn't move. She repeated herself, finally feeling the anger she should have felt a long time ago. "OUT RIGHT NOW RONALD WEASLEY, BEFORE I THROW YOU DOWN THE STAIRWELL!"

He hurried out of the room, but not without looking back and saying, 'Whatever I did, I'm sorry." He hung his head for a moment, before noticing the bluebell flames in the jar. "Always liked those…" he muttered as he descended the stairs.

Hermione threw herself on the bed, shutting her eyes and wishing the world away. She heard weird noises, and realized those animalistic whining crying noises were coming from her. Why was she so upset? Sure, she didn't feel the same way Ron did, but was she really this upset over having to hurt him. She supposed she should be, but that would be way too selfless for her just this moment. No, this was a completely selfish emotional moment. She had never done well in situations that were out of her control. In that moment it was as if the world had collapsed down around her body. She was trapped under this weight, literally. Hermione just couldn't understand why he wouldn't let her go. She was obviously in pain and not enjoying the kiss. He'd just gone too far.

It wasn't as if he had raped her. It was only a kiss, after all. She had been kissed before, so it wasn't like he stole her first kiss. It was just that she had trusted him with her safety and her happiness all these years, in so many impossible situations. For him to, with one fell swoop, take away her safety and her happiness all at once had been just – stifling.

Hermione tried to calm her mind to just go to be where she lay, but it was not to be. Instead she changed into her pajamas, which were overly long boxer shorts and a Gryffindor t-shirt Ginny had made her for Christmas a couple years ago. She couldn't help but imagine if she had been in the girls' dorm tonight. They would be sitting on their beds gossiping about who came back and who didn't and who was prettier and who was dating who. That is, the girls around her would be. She tried not to involve herself in Lavender and Parvati's conversations. Lord help her if Padma had been a Gryffindor as well. The chatter would never have stopped.

Tonight, everything was silent, though. She assumed just by sound that Draco had either gone to the Slytherin common room or gone to bed out of shame. It was nice for once to have Malfoy on the embarrassing side of a secret! That was what made them different from Malfoy though. They would never exploit, unless pushed by him. If he had knowledge like they had on him, he would practically make sure the Daily Prophet picked up the story!

Hermione contented herself by unpacking her books from her trunk. If she kept them shrunken, she could keep every book she wanted on her bedside stand. Of course, even at an inch across each, they would take up most of it.

Hermione reached the bottom of her trunk and felt dragon leather under her fingertips. She had almost forgotten the diary Jake had left for her! She pulled it out, careful not to scratch the leather against any corner or nail in her trunk, and cleaning off her bed, she opened it in front of her. The first page was still blank, which meant Jake either hadn't written anything or simply hadn't activated his yet. Didn't the pamphlet say unless both diaries were activated, the messages would disappear after a few moments?

She dug in her trunk once more before pulling out her peacock feather quill, a luxurious writing implement she dared not use in class or the library, as well as some purple ink she had gotten in Hogsmeade last year. It was very beautiful ink that she reserved for things that required a signature that was unofficial (black ink was required for official documents, of course), so she had basically only used it for greeting cards. It was pretty sad, since she loved the way the purple ink glistened gently.

Placing the inkwell carefully on her nightstand, Hermione lay on her stomach facing the journal, which was open on her pillow. With the end of the quill in her mouth for a moment, she considered what to write. Dipping her quill in the inkwell, she began with something simple.

_Hello._

Her words glistened as they dried, and she waited for them to disappear.

_**Hello, Patty.**_

A stronger, bolder stroke had responded; it was Jake! It just had to be! Hermione tried to calm down and began to write back.

_Hey Jake_

_How was your summer?_

Why did she ask that? She sounded absolutely boring!

_**It was alright… **_

_**I seem to remember a date I had scheduled, but the girl bailed on me…**_

_I did not! You left me there waiting for you!_

_**Well it looks like you already received my apology, since you're using it.**_

Hermione smiled… he had a humor that was almost a little cheeky, but it had kind undertones.

_This is so weird…_

_**What?**_

_I have a strict rule of _Don't trust anything if you can't see where it keeps its brain,_ but I'm sitting here just talking to you, (who may not even be the same person I chatted with) in a magical journal I literally just found at some ice cream shop._

_**Whoa, you're losing it, girl.**_

_How do you know I'm a girl?_

_**I just assumed your name was Patricia or something…**_

_Haha, just kidding, I'm a girl._

_**Whew!**_

_Anyway, classes start tomorrow, so I should get some rest, it's been a crazy day already._

_**Anything interesting happen?**_

_Just stupid drama. First day back and it's already begun! I mostly just wanted to see if you'd activated your journal yet._

**Okay, well sleep well in Gryffindor tower… you can't tell but I'm scowling at that. It's very menacing.**

_I will… don't get eaten by the giant squid in your dungeon lair._

Hermione closed the journal smiling. She didn't think it would be possible to smile a few minutes ago. She was glad she had Jake to talk to.


	28. Remembering Mother

Chapter 27

Draco Malfoy was absolutely mortified. He sat in the WC brooding for what felt like an hour. He couldn't believe how abysmally stupid he had really been. How simple was a locking charm, really? He didn't know where his head had been lately.

Well actually, he did know where it had been. He'd been dwelling far too much on his mother's death. It was just that she had been the one spark of light in his life. His father treated him like a filthy toerag, but she had loved him, truly loved him. He feared that he wouldn't find anyone to love him as much as she had.

His mother had put so much effort into making sure he was brought up right, but was still happy at the same time. She knew his father had been hurting him, beating him. She always doted on him, and when he got older and could use magic, she'd taught him simple spells to heal the cuts and hide the bruises.

She'd even mended a broken bone once when Draco's father had been extremely angry. It was the day the Dark lord had attempted to solicit Draco into the service. Draco had offered to finish school first so that he could use magic legally outside of Hogwarts and his home. Truly, he had no intention to join Voldemort. He was not a political man, nor was he a soldier. His father must have seen the truth in his deferral, for that night, he came to Draco's room, as he often did after Death Eater meetings. The beating he had been given rivaled the deepest pains he had experienced in his life, including the agony when he was turned into a ferret. Believe it or not, having your very bones, skin and organs transfigured is not a good feeling in the least.

There was something broken in Narcissa's eyes that day. She had snuck up to Draco's room after Lucius had left the Manor in search of booze and loose women. She found her baby boy lying on the cold marble floor of his bedroom, shivering from pain and fear. She mended his body, but there was little hope for his soul.

Draco was crying, remembering his mother's kindnesses. But there was only so much that he could do. He could be a better person. He had decided to try to become a healer after school. Maybe he could make his mother proud after all; give his family name a smidgen of real honor.

Sighing, Draco grabbed his duffel from the foot of his bed. With a flick of his wand at the trunk at the foot of the bed as well, the clothes flew out and found their places in the closet. He went through the duffel by hand, though. He had stuffed it full of books posters and other things that he always had to make his dorm more like home. Satin pillowcase, silk sheets, animated miniature dragon for his bedside stand, a Falmouth Falcons poster… Draco pulled everything out and set up his room, until all that was left in the bag was the two-way journal. He'd left the other one for the girl from the chat room to find at Florean Fortescue's. He hoped she had found it after all.

Draco ran his hand over the cover, feeling the soft yet firm dragon leather beneath his fingertips. A moment later, his name, _Draco Andelind Malfoy, _appeared across the cover in script. He opened the journal to the first page. Smoothing the page with a hand to hold the book open, he reached to his nightstand to grab an eagle feather quill and inkwell. He thought for a moment about what to write, when a word appeared on the page.

_Hello._

It was as if she knew he was waiting for her to write! Draco tried to calm himself down. Play it cool.

_**Hello, Patty.**_

_Hey Jake_

_How was your summer?_

Why did she ask that? She sounded absolutely boring!

_**It was alright… **_

_**I seem to remember a date I had scheduled, but the girl bailed on me…**_

_I did not! You left me there waiting for you!_

_**Well it looks like you already received my apology, since you're using it.**_

Hermione smiled… he had a humor that was almost a little cheeky, but it had kind undertones.

_This is so weird…_

Draco stared at the page for a moment. What was weird about them talking? They were just a Gryffindor and a Slytherin using some secret enchanted journal to talk since they had met using muggle artifacts over the summer. Ok yeah. It was weird.

_**What?**_

_**Whoa, you're losing it, girl.**_

_How do you know I'm a girl?_

_**I just assumed your name was Patricia or something…**_

_Haha, just kidding, I'm a girl._

_**Whew!**_

_Anyway, classes start tomorrow, so I should get some rest, it's been a crazy day already._

_**Anything interesting happen?**_

_Just stupid drama. First day back and it's already begun! I mostly just wanted to see if you'd activated your journal yet._

**Okay, well sleep well in Gryffindor tower… you can't tell but I'm scowling at that. It's very menacing.**

_I will… don't get eaten by the giant squid in your dungeon lair._

Draco laughed out loud at her farewell. If she only knew how creepy that old squid really was. She'd never go swimming in the lake again. Draco flipped the journal shut, but he did it a little too quickly, giving himself a paper cut in the process. A solitary droplet of blood snaked its way down his finger, but Draco was calm. He had had worse injuries than this every single day of his childhood. Grabbing his wand in his non-dominant hand, he held it as steady as he could and aimed for his right index finger. "_Episkey_," he incanted, watching the tiny wound sew itself up, as if stitched by a miniature invisible elf.

Wiping the blood on the offending towel from earlier in the night, he decided to test out that new shower.

This time, he remembered to lock the door, and enjoyed a long, hot shower, before slipping between the silk sheets of his bed, and falling asleep soundly.

Draco dreamt that night of beautiful mermaids with auburn brown hair leaping from water made of blue tile under a full bright moon. The mermaids wouldn't let him catch them though, and try as hard as he might; he spent the whole dream chasing them.

When he woke up, he didn't remember his dream except for a lingering feeling of frustration.

Stomping around his room, he gave in to his frustration and let a scowl cover his face. That was what everyone expected, anyway. He might as well give the people what they wanted.

Draco stood in front of his closet for a moment, before pulling out his clothing for the day. Anyone who believed a school uniform suppressed individuality was completely mad. Draco had so many incarnations of what the school uniform required that it was ridiculous. For the jumper, he had 3 long sleeve, 2 short and 4 vest style, in organic wool, merino wool and angora. He had 10 ties in varying shades of green and silver, varying in fiber from silk to satin to even one cotton tie that he wore in the summer. As for pants, he had black, charcoal, grey and silver, in cotton, and linen.

Really there was no reason, even with a dress code, that anyone should look less than their best. Well, except Weasley. Draco scoffed, imagining the limited wardrobe that family had. His ginger hair and overgrown man boy look didn't help things either.

Draco grabbed his messenger bag from the hook inside his closet door, and stuffed a couple rolls of parchment in, as well as his eagle feather quill, his backup quill and his black inkwell, which he made sure had a tightly fastened lid.

Draco checked his platinum ivory-faced watch and saw that there were 20 minutes left in breakfast. Plenty of time, considering he lived not 15 feet from the Great Hall. He could really get used to living here, if it weren't for Granger. He rolled his eyes and pushed open the door to the common area, where he, of course, saw Granger getting ready for class.


	29. Arithmancy

**Chapter 28**

Hermione awoke the next morning refreshed and light hearted, which lasted all of about five minutes. She managed to stay in a good mood until she went in the bathroom to brush her teeth, and saw her arm under the edge of her Gryffindor t-shirt. Lifting the sleeve gingerly, she could see that the skin was bruised there. The bruising was not so bad as to tell that someone had inflicted them on her, but there were purple enough to make her happy for the school uniform and her robes' long black sleeves.

Gently pulling the shirt sleeve back over her arm, she winced and went back to brushing her teeth. Growing up in a family of dentists did have its perks. After all, she'd had good teeth cleaning habits drilled into her from birth **(a/n: pun intended)**, but she had learned all the tips that made her regimen fun. She had a particular song that she hummed or sung along with in her head while she was brushing so that she could make sure she brushed long enough, and she made a point to floss each tooth space a certain number of times before moving on.

Hermione realized, as she had her fist shoved to the back of her mouth with floss firmly wrapped around her finger and thumb, how foolish she looked. Honestly, she was a witch! She knew why she hadn't switched dental cleaning spells, but really, she was of age to do magic anywhere now, wasn't it about time? Once again the answer was the same as every other time she'd asked herself that question – not yet.

Hermione finished up in the bathroom and went back to her room to get dressed. As she squeezed into her woefully malfitting skirt, she made a mental note to use her Hogsmeade privileges to get a new skirt ordered this weekend. It would be nice as seventh years to be able to go to Hogsmeade each and every weekend of the year. Well, it would be nice for those who had already turned 17. Hermione herself had been 17 for almost a year, but had been uncomfortable about using magic outside Hogwarts still since she hadn't yet started her seventh year.

Looking back, Hermione wished she had sued more magic over the summer. She should have been studying twice a day for her N.E.W.T.S rather than simply the once daily she had been.

Feeling she was suitably dressed, Hermione gave a valiant effort at fighting her hair into some sort of shape other than the poofball it had dried into. She managed to get it to lie down in kinky waves, though it was nowhere near as nice as when Ginny had styled it for her – nor as shiny.

Hermione grabbed her messenger bag, emblazoned with a G and Gryffindor lion on the side, and began packing. She grabbed everything she thought she might need, including a few quills, a couple inkwells with anti-spilling charms on them, a roll of parchment for each class and her shrunken class books along with a couple pleasure books called Ancient Egyptian Runes and Debunking Divination. As an afterthought, she grabbed the enchanted journal. Maybe Jake would want to chat during meals. She smiled at that, her first smile since waking, and started to go downstairs.

With one last stroke of genius, Hermione grabbed the remaining ink and parchment she had strewn across her dresser, and brought it down to the common room. She enchanted the large table provided to allow the top to lift, revealing a shelf for holding supplies underneath.

Feeling satisfied at having done some selfish yet useful magic, she checked to see that she had everything, when she noticed her watch. Yikes! Only 20 minutes left in breakfast. Well, the good news was that Ron may have already eaten and left by then.

Behind her, the other door into the common room opened, and she jumped a little. Looking over her shoulder she saw Draco Malfoy leaving his dormitory for breakfast. He was mid eye roll when her eyes met his, and she couldn't help but to reciprocate the sentiment. He was just as cocky as ever. She prayed that beyond her Head Girl duties she wouldn't have to deal with him too much this year.

Without a second look at the boy (_man? _She wondered idly to herself), she made her way out of the common room and across the hallway into the Great Hall. A quick scan of the ceiling showed that it was partly cloudy and looked like there might be some rain later. Hermione turned her eyes to the Gryffindor table, where she was happily not greeted by Ron's unruly orange mop, but rather caught a glimpse of his sister Ginny's auburn locks, which were tied back in a ponytail which ended in ringlets, cascading down her back.

Hermione put a hand up with a small wave, before sitting across from her best female friend. She tried to smile calmly, but failed miserably.

"What's wrong?" asked Ginny, perceiving her friend's fake smile immediately.

"Nothing," Hermione replied, trying harder to make the smile seem sincere.

"Don't give me that," Ginny reprimanded, "You look like someone just convinced you to cheat on an exam. I know you're upset about something."

"Well, yes, something is bothering me," the older girl conceded, "But that doesn't mean I want to discuss it."

"Come on, Mia, the boys already left to get ready for class, it's just us. You know you can tell me anything." Ginny had a look of pure compassion on her face, and it melted Hermione's heart.

"All I have to say is, if I tell you this, you can't tell another soul-"Hermione began.

"Of course!" Ginny interrupted with a smile.

"-And no interrupting, no matter how shocking this is. Oh, and you can't hate me," she finished nervously.

Ginny's smile turned a little wonky as she looked at her best friend with concern. "Well, go on."

"Remember last night, when you and Harry left my dormitory, but Ron stayed behind?"

"Yeah…"

"Well… he tried to…"

"What did my git of a brother do?" Ginny asked, her face turning a little red at the thought of how stupid Ron could be.

"I – I think he was trying to," Hermione dropped her voice to a whisper, "_seduce me…_"

"What?" Ginny asked, confused as to what Hermione meant.

"Like, he started talking, but he couldn't seem to spit out what he meant. And he said he fancied me, and then he just-"Hermione broke off, her eyes betraying her brave voice.

Ginny grabbed her friend's hand from across the table, saying, "Go on…"

"He just grabbed me and started kissing me."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"No," Hermione answered decisively, "It wasn't. He didn't do it in a nice way. It was painful, he wouldn't let me go and I wasn't kissing him back. I felt like an animal being cornered."

"How can snogging be painful?" Ginny asked, incredulous.

"Like this," Hermione said, pulling up her sleeve to reveal the bruises on her left arm.

"He did that with his hands?"

"Arms. His arms. He was – squeezing me."

"I hope you slapped him one good time!"

"Actually, I couldn't. He completely overpowered me. I only got free from his terrible kiss by stunning him."

"Oh my God, Hermione." Ginny said softly, shaking her head. "I am so sorry. I can't believe he would do that to you. I mean, I obviously knew about his crush-"

"-You did?" interrupted Hermione. "And you didn't tell me?"

Ginny shrugged, "I guess I thought it would just be more romantic if he told you. He may have gone about it the wrong way, but I think he did really care about you. He has for a long time."

"No." Hermione shook her head defiantly, before standing up. "That's not caring about me. That was the single scariest moment of my life so far, all the Harry stuff included. I want to be friends with you, but I don't ever want to have to see your brother again." She turned and left the Great Hall, pulling her schedule from her bag as she went. Her day started out with Arithmancy, which was her favorite class, then Household and Workplace Magic, then lunch. After lunch were Double Potions with the Slytherins and Double Defense Against the Dark Arts with Ravenclaw. Finally she had a free study period, since she'd tested out of Herbology, which she spent with Professor McGonagall in her office. She was very happy to have that free time with her favorite professor, as well as having some time away from Ron, but mostly it would be important for her to work on planning and organizing in ways that only the Head Girl was required.

Hermione made her way to Arithmancy, which was in the West tower, very near Ravenclaw's common room, if Hermione wasn't mistaken. She passed Dr. Vector's office on her way into the classroom, and as she expected, saw the professor poring over some large book of charts, perhaps searching for the perfect assignment for the first day of seventh year.

Hermione stepped inside the classroom and looked around the tapestry draped walls. There were all sorts of materials hanging from the ceiling to floor, with various charts and pages tacked on top of them. She took her seat as usual toward the front of the class, on the right side of the aisle. The classroom had about 8 tables, each with two chairs, but since the first day of the class, no one had ever bothered to sit next to her to attempt to share her table. It had been nice, albeit lonely.

Hermione spread her things out across the table, laying out her parchment neatly and setting up her inkwells to the right of that: red for her first drafts, black for her final copies to turn in. The beauty of Arithmancy was in how it was unlike Divination. Divination was based off of fiddly little fluke events and showmanship. Arithmancy was a true from of divination based on numbers, sweet practical concrete numbers. That was something Hermione could wrap her head around.

Hermione was pulled out of her train of thought (which involved a sensible Greek numerologist striking down Professor Trelawney with Zeus' lightning bolt) and back to the present as Professor Vector greeted the class.

"Congratulations class, if you have made it this far, then you made an O or and E in your Arithmancy OWL in 5th year and have not yet gotten so bored of me as to jump off the North Tower," Professor said all this with a pleasant smile on her face, letting the small class know she cared for them, and was simply joking. "Now, for today's lesson, we will be pairing up. Since there are 8 of us left in the class, there will be four pairs, so go ahead and get up with the person across the aisle from you.

Hermione turned to her left and met eyes with the last person she wanted to pair up with in the class. Of course, it would be Draco Malfoy.

Sighing, Hermione scooted over to allow Draco to take the seat next to hers. When she didn't hear movement, she looked at him once more, a little more annoyed this time.

"Coming?" she asked, trying to remain calm.

"Why do I have to come over there? It looks like a desk supply factory exploded," Draco rebutted, a look of disgust on his pointed face.

"Because you're going to pretend you have some proper upbringing in how to treat a lady," Hermione replied simply.

Draco sighed as loudly as he could manage without upsetting the teacher and dragged his bag behind him to the seat next to Hermione's. He would sit with her, and he was sure they would both do their best, but he sincerely doubted they would enjoy it.

"Alright," Professor Vector said, clapping her hands together to get the class' attention back. "We'll be using the Agrippan Method to analyze each others' names to shed light on each others' true natures. The first will be the character reading, which involves the full name with all letters. The second will be the heart reading which involves vowels only. Finally is the Social number which involves consonants only. Use the descriptions in index 2 of your book, as well as the chart from index 3. You will have 20 minutes to complete this assignment."

Hermione did not look at Draco. She didn't think about him, but simply opened her book to the index, and found the chart they needed. The letters of the alphabet were divided into nine columns, which gave them value. The values were then added, and if they were double digits, kept being reduced until one digit remained. She could smell his cologne. Hermione began copying down the letters of Draco's name on her parchment. D-4 R-9 A-1 His cologne was the only thing she could smell. C-3 O-6 M-4 His leg was so close to hers. A-1 L-3 F-6 She could hear his quill scratching the parchment as he wrote her name, while the heat from his leg was almost too much to bear against her own. O-6 Y-7

Draco couldn't stand being next to her, and for once it wasn't only because they loathed each other. Ever since that moment on the train when he'd unknowingly checked her out, he'd been slightly obsessed with her on a superficial level. He didn't get what it was. H-8 E-5 R-9 M-4 I-9 She just looked so… naturally pretty. It wasn't something that compared to the sex-laced guiles of Daphne Greengrass and the like. O-6 N-5 E-5 No, hers was beauty rather than sex appeal. She didn't make him want to jump her; she made him want to just look at her. Maybe put her on a shelf where nothing could hurt her. G-7 R-9 A-1 He wanted to wrap one of those beautiful auburn curls around his finger. Her hair had this depth of color to it. It just made it look…warm. Like he could snuggle up to her hair and never need for a fire. N-5 G-7 E- 5 R-9.

Hermione had found her partner's numbers, and began to look up the meanings in the book laid open between them. Craning her neck to read the small print in the index, she rattled off a few of the adjectives she saw for his number 5 character score.

"Instability, insecurity…. Indicates change and uncertainty. Drawn to many things at once without committing to one, adventurous and energetic… ah here, this part's about you: Fives can be conceited, irresponsible, quick-tempered and impatient," Hermione practically felt like sticking her tongue out at him. She scooted away at that moment, realizing how close she had leaned toward his face while reading from the book.

It was Draco's turn to lean now, as he searched the meaning of a character score of 7. He found it a bit farther down and began reading.

"Perceptive, understanding, and bright, sevens enjoy hard work and challenges. Oh barf, was this written for you? Often serious, scholarly and interested in all things mysterious… blah blah blah." He laughed aloud, before continuing, "Originality and imagination are more important than money and material possessions. In what world? And here's the truth: pessimistic, sarcastic and insecure." Draco didn't want to grill her so badly. Maybe he shouldn't have read the insecure part. Now it was making him feel like he might hurt her feelings. He wondered if she really put that much store in originality and imagination. He couldn't value anything higher than his riches.

Hermione was happy that her character reading was all pretty good. She noticed that his heart reading was the same as his character. "If I take the context of your character reading and apply it to the heart category, I would have to say you probably have trouble getting a relationship off the ground. You like that spark of meeting someone knew, but you don't stick with them for long. And you are going through some internal change. For the better or worse, who knows? Ask a real friend. Not some random fake arithmancer in your class." Hermione rolled her eyes, trying to cover up the fact that she had gotten really involved in reading his heart description, wanting to read more into than was necessary.

Draco wasn't sure what had caused her to psychoanalyze him, but he didn't like it. Sure, he had never been in a relationship that was based off anything other than sex, and yes he did move pretty quickly when he got bored of the girls, but that didn't mean he was a bad guy. He just tried to focus on her heart number which was a 4. 'According to this, you enjoy hard work, so I would assume in a relationship you'd put a lot of effort. It says you prefer logic and reason to flights of fancy… oh this is interesting… it says the problems of a 2 are doubled in a 4. 2 refers to conflict, opposing forces, contrasting of good and evil. I would take that to mean that you are highly attracted to your exact opposite even though you consider yourself to be very stable and practical. I think you don't know yourself as well as you think."

Hermione blushed, and quickly turned her face away to look back at her parchment. That whole opposites attract thing had hit home, especially the bit about good and evil. Could she really be attracted to the enemy right now? Instead of focusing on that she looked up his social number.

"Okay, social number is the outer personality, the face you show to the world. Yours is a 9."

"So is yours," Draco said, his voice holding a hint of curiosity rather than its usual deadpan.

"So, our social number represents completion and achievement…"

"We dedicate ourselves to service, as teachers, scientists and humanitarians… hey that works, since I want to be a healer when I get done with school."

"Really?" Hermione was surprised someone like Malfoy would want to commit himself to such a selfless role. "Er… strongly determined… work tirelessly and are inspirations to others… well we are the Head Girl and Boy, so that works out."

"Arrogant and conceited when things don't go their way," Draco laughed a little, and for the first time since Hermione had met him, she could tell it was a real laugh. He wasn't laughing to hurt someone or to hide something; he was just amused.

"I guess Arithmancy is pretty spot-on, huh?" Hermione said with a small smile.

"Yeah," Draco said softly, looking back at her. He quickly looked away. "Whatever, at least we're done."

Draco moved back to his table and didn't look at Hermione for the rest of the class. She wondered for a while what she had done wrong, but then she assumed it was just Malfoy being Malfoy, and tuned in to Professor Vector's lecture on Chaldean rituals and using Arithmancy to choose the winning warrior in a fight.

**Please review!**


	30. Imagio

Chapter 29

Draco left Arithmancy as quickly as he possibly could. He couldn't believe he had been talking to Granger like she was some kind of equal. Like she mattered to him. She didn't matter. She was just a mudblood that happened to do well in school. That was going to end soon though. Draco knew he had to be the top of his class if he wanted to work at St. Mungo's. Granger was smart enough and skilled enough to be a healer, so he wasn't going to let himself get passed over for some golden Gryffindor.

No, it was time to fight back.

Draco Malfoy was going to beat Hermione Granger at school.

The idea made him smile a sickeningly evil grin for a moment, before he let his face fall into its usual aloof smirk. He knew that intimidation was his best weapon against the fairer sex, and Granger would be no different.

Hermione walked into her next class, happy to have one with just her housemates. She had no idea what they would be covering in Household and Workplace magic, but if it had anything to do with the contents of the textbook (which she had gotten for Christmas in 3rd year) she was pretty sure she could handle it with ease.

To her dismay, having a class with her housemates meant having a class with Ron, and since she was not terribly good friends with any of the other girls in her year, she simply grabbed a seat toward the middle, on the opposite side from Harry and Ron who were sitting closer to the back or the classroom. Honestly, if she'd have let them, they'd sit in the back row and wouldn't learn a thing.

Hermione thought of all the times she had helped them study in the past; all the times she had lent them her notes. Even these old memories were tainted by what had happened the night before. She shivered slightly and cast a cautious look over her left shoulder to where the boys were sitting. Harry and Ron were talking, laughing amiably, seemingly without a care in the world.

This made Hermione feel even worse, because it made her think that maybe she had just overreacted to what Ron had done. Wasn't that what every girl wanted: A man to come in and sweep her off her feet? Even just thinking about what had happened the night before made Hermione's stomach turn. She almost thought she might lose her breakfast, but after a few moments the feeling was gone.

A few minutes later, Professor Zamira Gulch waltzed in the room, looking like a rippling blue body of water. Her robes were almost metallic and had three or four shades of blue and swirled around her as she moved to the front of the class. It was obvious that she thought very highly of herself, but Hermione was still excited to meet the author of a book she had been working out of for almost 4 years now.

Finally at the front of the Gryffindor seventh year class, Professor Gulch held her arms out and began, 'Welcome to household and workplace magic! We will be learning all sorts of useful charms spells and the like that will come in handy around the house as well as at work. We will also help each other to discern our career paths. Are you meant to be an auror?" she looked at Harry. "A Quidditch player?" she looked at Ron. "Or even a housewife?" Zamira looked at Lavender on that line, making Hermione giggle slightly to herself. "The final aspect of the class will be helping you apply for and take any tests required by the careers you choose!" The class began muttering and whispering to each other, excited to not have to blindly go into the application process. "All in all, this will hopefully be a fun yet useful class that will benefit you all." Professor Gulch smiled and clapped her hands once.

"Today's assignment will involve a charm I'm sure you all learned in your 6th year. The _Imagio_ charm is used to recreate holographic depictions for purposes of decoration or for helping recover memories. Today we will use it in a self-expression sort of way, as we will each be creating our own inspiration cloud."

Some of the boys groaned. Anything that required creativity put them at a loss. Neville, meanwhile, looked scared witless. He had never mastered the charm last year, and had found that for him it just created dense clouds of black smoke. Hermione hoped that he could overcome that so she wouldn't have to conjure gas masks for herself and her classmates like last time.

Hermione looked at the empty space in front of her as she imagined the answers to the prompts Professor Gulch was giving them.

"Try to recreate things that make you happy, things you cherish, they can be people, or they can be activities. Include colors you enjoy or find soothing. Are you especially skilled at anything? Just conjure whatever inspires you and makes you excited about your future."

Hermione thoughtfully waved her arm, muttered the word "_Imagio_" as she went. It was a mildly melodic incantation, and she found herself almost singing it as she created her cloud and filled it up with her inspirations. She started with her parents. She made sure their holographs had encouraging smiles on their faces. On the bottom right she put Harry, and on the bottom right she put Ron. He still felt far too threatening to her, so she shrank him. By a lot. Crookshanks went near the top left, and the holographic version of him seemed to think Ron was a chew toy. Hermione didn't correct his behavior, but set to work adding a Ginny in the top right corner. It was so hard to get her hair just right.

Next Hermione added some objects. First her bookbag which always inspired her to read, then the peacock quill she had saved up for, reminding her that good things come to those who wait. She even put the journal Jake gave her, to remind her that good can be found in the dark and no one has to live up to their reputation. Thinking such positive things about changing made her wonder how Draco had changed, if at all, after his parents' death. She decided to add him to the cloud. Not his face, but simply… his tie from that morning. Not as a reminder of him, but as a reminder that the human body can survive great grief and mocking and pain, but it will live on. He truly was a testament to God's creation. She barely knew if she were a Christian any more. He had of course been raised that way, but finding out about magic had thrown her for a loop. Still, she placed one final image in the cloud; a crucifix. To symbolize hope in a dark place and that dreams may come true yet.

Hermione was pretty satisfied with the quality of what she had put in her cloud. The next step was to make it less dreary. The holographs she made were all black and white and grayscale. She laced some of her favorite colors into the area around the images, making it look like a cloud at sunset. She added a little purple, some read and some streaks of gold. She continued tweaking it until she was happy with her result.

Looking around she saw that the professor was walking around, watching their progress with a small smile. She seemed like she was happy with what they had all done, and when she came to Hermione's, she didn't comment, but simply nodded and moved on.

Hermione knew it was just a silly little sort of ice breaker assignment, but she really enjoyed it. Her happy thoughts were interrupted when someone sat next to her. She was gripped momentarily by fear, but calmed herself and turned to see that it was just Harry.

"Hey 'Mione," he said, smiling. "Why are you sitting all the way up here?"

"Oh, I just like to be close to the front, you know," she said, though the words sounded unconvincing to her own ears. "I just didn't see you guys before I sat down," she continued, her voice a little less squeaky and more assured.

"Oh okay," He said thoughtfully. "Ron thought you were mad at us."

"Why would I be mad at you, Harry?" she asked, choosing her words carefully.

"I don't know. Well, I like your cloud. Why's Ron all tiny in the corner?"

Hermione planted a perfectly fake laugh and said "Oh, Crookshanks' holograph was a little too realistic. You know how much he hates Ron." She tried to smile, but she knew it hadn't reached her eyes.

Harry seemed worried still, but he returned her smile easily, and patting her on the arm, went back to his seat next to Ron.

Hermione spent the rest of the class fuming at the idea that Ron would say she was mad at _them_. Why would she be mad at Harry? _Harry_ didn't hold her against her will and kiss her until she had no way out but a voiceless stunning spell. She was kind of proud of the voiceless spell, as she had been practicing them, but still. You shouldn't be forced to stun your best friend. You should be able to just talk things out. Feelings that aren't reciprocal shouldn't be forced. For a while she had of course entertained thoughts of trying to date Ron, but he was just so childish, and this simply proved her point all the more.

When class ended, Hermione was out the door as soon as possible, and made her way quickly to her common room to avoid lunch and thereby avoid Ron.


	31. Trouble brewing

**A/N: We made it to 30 chapters! Sorry if the story seems to be running away with itself… I promise the 'middle' will be over after a while and we'll get to the end. Thanks for the reviews, as always! They make me so much more inspired to continue, and yes, I check them daily!**

Chapter 30

Draco took his seat in Potions class, feeling full and happy from Lunch. Sure, lunch hadn't been a completely pleasant event, since he'd had to sit with his traitorous friends, but the food was good and he got to make fun of Pansy, which was always fun.

He reclined in his usual seat, propping his feet against the side of his cauldron, and watched as his classmates filtered in. The pickings for seventh year potions weren't that great. Most of the Slytherins had tried to hold on to the class since they knew Snape would give them a good grade. Others like Crabbe and Goyle simply hadn't met Snape's O.W.L. standards, and had to give it up.

Still, that left a handful of Gryffindors, as well as himself, Blaise, Daphne and Pansy on the Slytherin side. He didn't really want any of them as his partner, but out of them all he guessed Blaise would be best. At least he wouldn't have to listen to Pansy's gibberish or endure Daphne's lectures on proper etiquette. Honestly, she was practically as prim as Granger, if Granger had been a pureblood obsessed with social status and image.

The class seemed to have been assembled, and as he guessed, Blaise took the seat next to him. The boy wasn't terrible at potions, but if Draco really wanted to beat Granger, he would need to make sure Blaise was on his toes.

"Hey man," Draco started quietly, "We gotta make sure we're on it this year with our potions. Snape's not going to just hand us our N.E.W.T.S. after all."

"What do you care?" Blaise scoffed, "You've got your parents' company to take over when you get done at Hogwarts. You don't have to worry like the rest of us."

"Yeah, well," Draco murmured under his breath, "That won't be happening."

Blaise shot him a searching look, but couldn't ask what Draco met, as Snape had swept into the room.

The batlike professor took his place at the front of the room, commanding the students' silence and attention simply with his presence. Draco couldn't deny; Snape had style.

"Clearly none of you paid attention to the notice I left on the dungeon door," Snape reprimanded with a sneer. "You won't be choosing your own partners this term in potions. You will not be choosing your coworkers in the real world, so you will need practice handling volatile chemicals with people you don't completely trust. Instead, you will defer to my daily seating assignments for whom to work with. You will also be assigned different potions depending on the day and your partner. I will choose potions that meet or exceed your skill level, and the potions will not be doubled by any pair. Therefore you will not be able to assist the other partners in the room," Snape seemed to point his sneer toward Granger at that moment, making Draco laugh inside. She was forever trying to help out her fellow Gryffindorks. He was glad Snape found a way to put her in her place.

"Since you all seemed to lack reading skills today, here are the partners for the first round of potions, which will last two weeks: Greengrass and Thomas, Zabini and Patil, Parkinson and Potter, Malfoy and Granger. Your potion assignments are located on the back counter. I assume you will be able to research the ingredient lists on your own?" Snape turned away then and took his seat behind his large desk at the front of the class.

Draco grinned to himself. This would play into his plan nicely. He would throw Granger off by doing everything perfectly for their potion. She needed to know he was indeed a formidable opponent for the ranking of first in their class. No longer would he roll over and let the mudblood take all the top scores.

"Bad luck, mate," Blaise said to him as he gathered up his things to meet his partner. "At least my partner resembles hot. Yours will make this potion a living hell." Blaise took his things and moved across the room, not bothering to wait for Draco's response. Not that Draco would have given him one. He still considered Blaise to be secret enemy number one. He would have his comeuppance in time. Right now Draco needed to focus on the task at hand.

Granger took her seat next to him, and looked at Draco for a split second before moving to the back counter to get their assignment. Coming back to the cauldron, she pulled out her book, while soundlessly handing the assignment page to Draco.

"Great…" Draco muttered, "Only the fiddliest potion ever. Draught of Peace… I'll need some by the time we finish this."

Hermione made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a giggle, but then covered it up quickly with a cough. "Well," she said, "We can do the first page today, then we'll have to put it in stasis until next Monday so the lacewing beetles get added under the waxing gibbous moon."

Draco simply nodded, and began chopping hellebore to reduce down into a syrup. Hermione took to crushing newt eggs into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. They worked in silence for most of the class period, until it came time to begin adding ingredients.

Hermione kept one eye on the book as she stirred the cauldron the appropriate number of times each direction between adding ingredients. The silence continued until Hermione went to add the powdered moonstone.

Draco stopped her by pushing her hand away.

"What?" she snapped, annoyed. Other than prepping ingredients he hadn't been helping at all, and now he was literally stopping her?

"The flames are too high. They need to be reduced to 2 inches to keep the moonstone from getting singed. And the simmer is too high as well. It needs bubbles on the edge, not in the middle." Draco said all of this matter-of-factly, with a tone Hermione almost thought was mocking her own. But she could tell by the look on his face that Draco was dead serious. Draco Malfoy was serious about school for once? Wonders never ceased.

Hermione watched as he made the adjustments to the heat, and then added the powdered moonstone.

"There," Hermione said with relief as Draco stirred the cauldron three times clockwise and six times counterclockwise. "If we cast the stasis charm on it now, it will hold its heat and keep the potion from progressing any further."

"Yeah, well I don't trust you to not get eaten by something between now and then, so let's do the charm together, so either of us can release it," Draco said with a sneer.

"Fine, whatever," Hermione responded dejectedly. "That is assuming you can perform the charm."

"Are you kidding? That charm's third year stuff, of course I can do it."

"Exactly my point. Charm work has never been your forte."

"Like you would know about my abilities, mudblood."

"Yeah, well as the muggleborn who's been stomping your ass in grades every term since we got here, I think I'd know how much you suck at charms." Hermione didn't know what possessed her to say that. The insult just spilled out of her. But even as it did, she felt… better?

"Wow. I knew you were uppity, but I didn't know you were a petty bitch," Draco retorted, a little louder now. "Well don't worry, you won't be stomping my ass in anything this term. I'm gonna outperform you in every class, and you can count on that. Don't slack up or get caught up in drama with the wonder twins, because I'll be right there on your ass, showing you what you could be if you had the advantage of fine breeding like myself."

Hermione scowled deeply, but something in her had sparked, like flint against metal. She wouldn't back down from this challenge. Her face then turned to something like humor, as she said "Okay Mr. Bigshot, let's start your rise to academic glory by putting this potion in stasis." She extended her wand over the potion and waited for him to do the same.

He matched her motion, touching the tips of their wands together and the muttered in unison, "_Coacto Stabilitas_"

Having secured their potion for the week, the two parted ways, thought Draco was sure he'd see Hermione soon enough since they technically lived together. For once, that prospect didn't make him terribly upset, as he was already plotting the next blow to her self-confidence.


	32. Curiouser & Curiouser

Chapter 31

Hermione's day ended with Defense Against the Dark Arts. For the first time since Umbridge's reign, Hermione was actually bored in the class. The new teacher, Professor Trimble, seemed almost as afraid of wand work as he was of the actual post. Hermione didn't blame him. There hadn't been a Defense teacher who'd made it in more than a year in ages.

The only bad thing was that Professor Trimble's fears meant book work for the class. Hermione didn't mind so much, except that she had gotten sued to a more hands-on approach to the class, and her frustration from potions class had really made her want to hex someone. Well, she had a person in mind, but dueling with a classmate in this class would be the only appropriate outlet, considering the rules about hexing your classmates in the halls. Really, hexing Malfoy would be worth the risk, but Hermione couldn't imagine what might happen if he deflected a curse and it hit someone else.

After Defense class, Hermione was making her way toward the great Hall for dinner, when a head of red hair bobbed up to her in the swell of students entering from the North side of the castle.

"Hey Mia!" Ginny said, grinning. "How was your first day?"

"Half and half, I would say. Got paired up with Malfoy in two separate classes no less, and I couldn't even hex anyone in Defense since we were stuck with book work." Hermione rolled her eyes as the girls made their way to the Great Hall.

Ginny stopped dead in her tracks. "Hermione Granger, tired of book work?" she exclaimed, a look of mock horror fighting to keep back the laughter in her eyes.

Hermione punched her friend playfully in the arm, and dragged her forward, saying, "Come on, I'm hungry!"

"No, but really, how was today? Did you have any run-ins with Ron?" Ginny asked, concerned.

"We had that seventh year class together. Can you believe he convinced Harry that I was mad at both of them?" Hermione said, remembering her anger from earlier. "Why would I be mad at Harry? Seriously, it's like Ron doesn't remember what he did."

Ginny rolled her eyes, and said, "He's probably just covering his bases, so he doesn't seem like the bad guy."

"Yeah, well, the bad guy is definitely what I'd call him," Hermione said, as they entered the Great Hall.

There weren't many students there yet, as dinner was only just beginning. Hermione and Ginny took their usual seats, toward the middle of the table, and Ginny pulled out a copy of Witch Weekly to read as they waited for the food to appear.

"How can you read this rag?" Hermione asked as she peered over Ginny's shoulder. "Potions to get him pepped up and charms to get you ready to go? This is not appropriate for you to be reading anyway."

Ginny scoffed, and said "Right, Hermione, I'm not almost 17 and nearly an adult. No reason I would need to know anything about sex."

Hermione blushed a little, and the conversation turned to the opposite page's article on what to wear with your work robes.

A few minutes later, food began appearing in the dishes in front of them, and Hermione and Ginny turned their attention from the article on hair potions to their food. Pretty soon after the food appeared, so did the boys.

Hermione tried to focus on the food and not on Ron, but it was making her nauseous just thinking about him. After a few failed attempts at eating her shepherd's pie, Hermione finally pushed the plate away and grabbed her bag to leave.

"I've got 10 inches to write for Arithmancy," she said, her eyes not lifting above the goblet of pumpkin juice in front of her. "See you later." With that, she made her way out of the Great Hall and into the foyer. She had almost made it to her door, when a voice behind her stopped her cold.

"'Mione?" Ron stuttered out, trying to seem calm.

"Yes, Ronald?" Hermione replied, not turning to face him. If it weren't for the small hitch in her voice when she said his name, she would almost seem normal.

Ron placed his hand on her shoulder, and she wrenched it away, turning to face him in the process. "What?" he snapped at her.

"Don't 'what' me, Ronald, you know what. Don't touch me."

"Why are you being like this Hermione?"

"You threw yourself all over my last night."

Ron looked nonplussed.

"I couldn't get you off of me. I had to stun you?"

Ron still looked confused. "What are you talking about? I don't even remember going to bed last night. I must have been really tired."

"You don't remember…? Well, that's just convenient, isn't it?" Hermione scoffed, and turned to her door, touching the sphinx to get a riddle.

_Close to the words of life stay I,  
But I wither, wane, and grow dry._

"Flower pressed in a Bible," Hermione replied, quickly stepping inside the open door into her common room. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew there was one way she could find out.

Sitting at the desk in the common area, Hermione pulled out her Defense Against the Dark Arts book. After leafing through the table of contents in front and the index in back, she could tell it was completely useless. The book was full of nonviolent ways to avoid confrontation. It seemed like Professor Trimble was a pacifist, or at least a hippie.

Tossing the books aside, she pulled out the Defense book from Lupin's year: _The Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts_. She had always liked this book. After a bit of skimming and page flipping, she came to the part she needed:

_Information on Stunning Spells_

_The stunning spell is a basic defensive charm that can be used with ease in most situations. Ti casts a clear jet of red light at the target, which renders the victim unconscious until the countercharm (_Rennervate_) is cast. A stunned victim may awaken after a length of time even without the countercharm, but this timing depends on the severity of the damage, how many instances of the charm the person was hit with, and their health otherwise. Multiple stunning spells targeted at a human can be fatal, as each instance increases the power and severity of the damage. Multiple instances of a stunning spell can be used against larger opponents by multiple wizards working in tandem, but certain species are resistant to the charm, including but not limited to:_

_Dragons_

_Trolls_

_Giants_

_Half-Giants_

_This charm can also be used to halt the motion of objects through the air. This charm is able to be used nonverbally, but using in a nonverbal form can cause the strength to increase, depending on the power of the witch or wizard. Certain permanent and nonpermanent side effects can affect a stunning victim depending on the power behind the charm, including:_

_Nausea_

_Vomiting_

_Abdominal Pain_

_Pain at the impact site_

_Confusion_

_Memory Loss_

_Death_

Could it really be true? Had she put so much force behind the charm that she destroyed his memory? She wondered what else, if anything, he had forgotten. Hermione considered the fact that she could have done permanent damage to his memory. She hoped that she hadn't simply because she didn't want to hurt him permanently. On the other hand though, how unfair would it be that he got to live the rest of his life without knowing what he had done to her? Without the memory of her response the first time, what was to keep him from trying something like that again? She would never be able to feel safe or secure around him again. She would always have those memories.

Hermione considered whether she should take Ron to Madame Pomfrey or not. After all, he had obviously received lasting damage from a spell. But on the other hand, he had also committed assault and she had used the stunning spell against him outside of the classroom. Yes, she was of age to use magic, but there just seemed something very wrong about stunning a classmate in your dorm in the middle of the night.

Hermione put the book away and tried to free her mind of the questions that hid there. Instead, she pulled out her Arithmancy text and began working on the ten inches that was due on the lecture they'd had that day. Hermione always felt she was better with writing just after the lecture had taken place. She was not like her friends who liked to wait until the night before things were due.

An hour and 12 inches of parchment later, Hermione was satisfied with her essay. She felt it was a very good response to the day's lecture, and she knew Professor Vector would appreciate the hyperbole she'd included.

Hermione couldn't remember if she'd seen Draco come in from dinner or not. It was very likely he could have slipped past her while she was doing her writing, but she doubted he had. He probably had other people to torture elsewhere.

Hermione yawned and stretched. It was still early, but she had done the majority of her homework, so she went upstairs to her room after securing her things in the common room. Sitting on her bed, which had crimson and gold sheets, she slipped off her socks and shoes, and then changed into her pajamas. She pulled the journal out from under her pillow and flipped to the end of their last conversation.

_Hey Jake, you there?_

Hermione waited for the response patiently, knowing e may not even be around his journal. He answered more quickly than she'd guessed he would.

_**Hey Patty, how's it going?**_

_Wow that was a fast response, I'm good._

_**Well I charmed my journal to become warm and glow if there was a new entry added. Just so I didn't accidentally miss you.**_

_That's pretty cool! I can't even think of what I would use to do a spell like that._

_**It's a combination of 'lumos' and 'aestus estus' Basically you point at the object in question, hovering in a circle over it, and say 'lumestus mutatio' the 'mutatio' quantifies it as taking place when there is a change to the nature of the book.**_

_Wow. You are seriously smart. You must be really good at Charms and Transfiguration._

_**Well, I'm better at making up my own spells. I guess I just bore easily.**_

_I could use your brain on my N.E.W.T.S. I need to do really well if I want a lot of job options._

_**What are you thinking of doing?**_

_I thought auror, but it seems like a boys club. I'm starting to consider either unspeakable (work in the Department of Mysteries) or a healer._

_**You should be a healer with me. We could take over St. Mungo's**_

_Haha, I just don't know if I'd have the patience. I'm no foreigner to the hospital wing… I don't know how Madame Pomfrey does it._

_**The answer is booze.**_

_Very funny._

_**No, I'm serious. She's been helping me with my entrance exams for healer training. There's more firewhiskey there than in the Three Broomsticks!**_

_Wow, I never would have thought that she was a heavy drinker…_

_**It never gets in the way of doing her job, though.**_

_That's good. How were your classes today?_

_**Boring. I had some fun though.**_

_Getting into trouble already, are we my Slytherin friend?_

_**Nah, just learned some interesting stuff.**_

_Well, I guess I should go to bed now… tomorrow's my easy day, but still._

_**Do you want to meet?**_

Hermione thought about it for a minute. Did she really want to meet this person? Whoever he was, he seemed brilliant… he must not have been in her year, but she didn't mind. She decided that it would be alright, but wanted to make sure it was somewhere public.

_That would be nice_

_**When/Where?**_

_Well, we have a Hogsmeade weekend coming up, weekend of the 19__th__?_

_**Sounds good, where do you want to meet?**_

_The Three Broomsticks?_

_**How will I know it's you?**_

_I'll wear a purple ribbon in my hair._

_**Well in that case, I'll wear a purple tie. Once I charm one to be that color, that is. **_

_It's a plan!_

"It's a date," Hermione's mind willingly supplied. She was excited to finally meet him, whoever he was. Hopefully nothing would stand in their way this time.

_Oh, and no standing me up this time! It's my birthday that weekend, so you have to be nice to me!_

_**Okay, Okay, didn't I say I was sorry for last time?**_

_I forgive you, of course. How could I stay mad at you? Haha_

_**Just wait til you see my puppy dog face, you'll never be mad again!**_

_**Goodnight Patty**_

_Goodnight Jake_

For the second time in two days, despite everything that was going wrong in her life, Hermione went to sleep with a smile on her face.

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	33. On the Mend

Chapter 32

Draco closed his journal on the conversation with Patty and stared at the cover for a moment. He didn't know what had possessed him to ask again to meet. He was pretty sure no matter who she was she would either hate him for being one of the most 'evil' Slytherins, or she would pity him because of his parents. There was no point in worrying about it now, though. He had over a week until the meeting would happen. If it was really a problem, he could probably talk her out of it.

Placing the book back on his nightstand, Draco pulled out his timetable to see tomorrow's classes. Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, then a large break until lunch, and after lunch was the Household and Workplace Magic class with the new instructor, followed by Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Draco fell asleep with thoughts of purple ribbons and the sparkle of powdered moonstone against a dark sky.

The next morning found Draco trying to stay awake in Herbology. He had his face propped up on his hand, which was propped up on the edge of a large terra cotta planter. Honestly, Herbology was something that always interested Draco, simply based on the number of medicinal and poisonous products alike that came from plants. It was amazing that plants could serve both purposes, sometimes simultaneously. For example, the mandrake was a murderous plant to any that heard its cry, but the root of the plant could make a powerful restorative draft for those who have been petrified. Every plant contained in it good and evil, it seemed, and that gave Draco some hope.

Class was soon over, which was fine with Draco. He was bored learning about cultivating Umbrella Flowers. Sure their pollen could be blended with materials to waterproof them, but Draco really just didn't like messing around with girly flowers all day.

Draco made his way back up to the castle and had almost reached the front entrance when a voice called out from behind.

"Hey Draco, wait up!" the voice exclaimed with a heavy Italian accent.

"What do you want Blaise?" Draco drawled back, disinterestedly.

"Hey, you haven't talked to me since we got back. I mean, a little, but not really," Blaise said, looking for some kind of explanation.

Draco looked at his so-called friend and said, "I figured you'd be better off without me. After all, you think I'm some sort of laughingstock. Why don't you just piss off, Blaise." Draco turned away and continued toward the entrance to the castle.

"What are you talking about, Draco? Don't be a prat, just tell me," Blaise said, grabbing Draco by the shoulder to slow him up.

Draco whirled around, anger flashing dangerously in his silver eyes. "I heard you, all of you, making fun of me on the train. I know you all think I'm pathetic. Just drop the act."

"You obviously didn't hear the whole conversation, then. Goyle was being an ass and talking all this terrible nonsense, so I gave him hell. I stood up for you. What makes you think I wouldn't stand up for my best friend?"

"Well, I didn't know Slytherins got to have best friends," Draco replied slowly.

"Screw Slytherin, I've known you since we were 8. We met in Italy when you were on vacation; remember that epic sand castle we made? I guess we could blame the fact that your magic was just coming in, and you _really_ wanted it to stay up."

"Yeah, there was nothing sturdy about that architecture. I never knew why it stayed up."

"But what I'm saying is, we go way beyond this stupid school and these stupid little brats with their two parent households."

Draco remembered that Blaise never knew his father and had been raised by his mother. He started to see why Blaise never seemed to set much store in taunting others of lesser blood status; he never truly knew what his blood status was. Of course, being in Slytherin pretty much guaranteed that his blood was pure.

Blaise went on after a moment, saying, "Are we square, then? You don't hate me for no reason anymore?" He held out a hand to Draco, a peace offering.

Draco took his friend's hand and they shook, "Yeah, of course." They both smiled for a moment, before dropping the happy looks for something more intense and making their way finally up to the castle.

"One thing though," Draco said without looking at his friend.

"Anything," Blaise replied, waiting expectantly.

"You gotta help me exact my revenge on the rest of those dolts."

"You don't have to ask me twice!" replied Blaise, slapping Draco on the back.

They made it into the entranceway, and Draco turned to Blaise, saying, "I gotta get going to meet Madam Pomfrey for my free period. I'll see you at lunch, though."

Blaise waved, and went down the stairs to the Slytherin common room. Draco went up instead, and made his way to the Hospital Wing. He had almost made it to the Hospital Wing, and was about at the level of the Two Towers, when he spotted two people he could care less to see.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were making their way down the corridor towards him, seemingly lost in conversation. Draco couldn't quite catch what they were saying, but it seemed serious.

Draco kept on his path, down the middle of the corridor, set on a collision course between the two lovebirds. 3….2…..1….

Draco busted between them, unable to believe they hadn't noticed him walking their way. "Potty…. Weaselbee… watch your step," he called behind him, not bothering to turn and look. They weren't worth his time anyway.

A few minutes later, he had made it to the Hospital Wing, and went to check in with Madam Pomfrey.

"I'm here, Madam Pomfrey," he called quietly. He could see her office door was closed, but there was no light beneath it. He made his way down the long wing to see if she was tending to a patient.

Draco found her leaning over a first year that seemed to have sustained some nasty burns. Madam Pomfrey looked over her shoulder to Draco and said, "Oh good, you're here. Will you get me some of that burn ointment from the first cabinet? Oh, and bring some clean bandages as well."

Draco nodded and went to get everything she needed. He made it back quickly, and set the supplies on the rolling tray next to the nurse.

Madam Pomfrey stepped away from the patient, and said "Would you like to do the honors?"

"Sure," Draco said, a little bit nervous about actually working on a student.

"Spread the ointment nice and thin so the area can still breathe," the nurse said in her gentle voice.

Draco did so, taking as much care as possible to avoid causing pain.

"Okay, now wrap a layer around each burned area, being sure not to overlap too much. Again, we want the area to be as breathable as possible."

Draco did so, wrapping around the hands to cover the palm wounds, and wrapping around the upper arms and elbows in the same manner. Eventually, the burns on the first year's arms were all covered, and the stress in her face seemed to be relieved a little as the ointment began working on the burned tissue. If Draco knew Madam Pomfrey's potion skills, and he was pretty sure he did, the skin would be healed within 24 hours.

Madam Pomfrey stepped in then, to administer a pain potion to relieve her a little more, and a dreamless sleeping potion to let her rest.

Draco then went around doing his usual task of gathering any extra vials or bandages left near the hospital beds, as well as changing all the sheets on the unoccupied beds. Then, he sat down with Madam Pomfrey in her office, as she only had the one patient so far today. Still, it was only the second day of classes, and with a whole crop of new students using magic and brewing potions for the first time, there were bound to be accidents.

"What happened to that first year out there, anyway?" Draco asked, as he organized the vials in Madam Pomfrey's office.

"Ms. West had a potions accident on the first day. She had taken off her outer robes, why I could never tell you, but the potion splashed up and got all over her arms. Most of it I healed with a charm, but the ones you treated were the worst parts, the second and third degree burns."

Draco was inspecting the many vials of potions when he had an idea. "Could you teach me how to brew some of these remedies?"

"I don't actively brew anymore, since most of my time is taken up here without any sort of assistant. But Professor Snape uses my brewing instructions and keeps me in stock." She thought to herself for a moment, before continuing. "I'll tell you what, when you finish with your current potion, I'll ask Professor Snape if he will assign you some of the healing potions I require. They will likely be at or above your level, but I think you can rise to the challenge, yes?"

Draco nodded, and said "Thank you, that would be great."

"Well," Madam Pomfrey said, looking at the clock above her desk. "It's about 5 minutes until lunch. I suppose I'll let you go, once you finish up those vials."

"Thanks, and thanks again for letting me treat those burns. I like getting to do hands on training," Draco said truthfully.

"Well, maybe I'll keep you on call in case we ever have some emergency so big I can't handle it alone."

Draco knew she was just humoring him, but it made him happy she cared enough to say that. Not happy enough to crack a smile, but he had a reputation to uphold, after all.

**A/N: take advantage of our new, spiffy, easier to use review system! It's right down there!**


	34. Plotting

**A/N: First of all, omg! Thanks for the reviews! I can't believe you guys left 10 reviews in two days! I think it's because of the new and improved review system, but either way it's great!**

**On another unrelated note (possible spoilers, beware)… I just caught up on Supernatural and saw the episode with Felicia Day. First of all, she is my hero. I'm secretly in love with her. Anyway they have a conversation about Hermione, and at the end before she gets cut off she says "And she ended up with the wrong-". Is Felicia a Dramione fangirl? I will personally pretend that's true!**

**Anyway, sorry about the long note, back to the story!**

**Also note about this chapter, in this storyline, Draco never became a Death Eater or killed Dumbledore because his father died in his sixth year. So he has never found the Room of Requirement, or the Room of Hidden Things.**

Chapter 33

Draco took a seat at the end of the Slytherin table. For lack of better entertainment, he took out his Arithmancy textbook and started going over the last chapter. He had to finish up his homework assignment tonight before doing rounds, and it wasn't going very quickly.

"Hey man," a voice said from across the table.

Draco looked up from his notes on Chaldean rituals and saw Zabini taking the seat across from him. He gave his friend a stiff nod, still not sure whether he could trust him.

"Still don't believe me, huh?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry mate, I'm a Slytherin, don't trust anyone," Draco replied with a shrug. "You still up for helping me with my…" he looked from side to side before continuing, "project?"

Blaise let out a short laugh, and nodded. "You always have been the master of revenge… I didn't believe the others when they said you were going soft last year. I always thought you were just waiting for a challenge. A chance for the perfect crime."

"I guess you could say I lacked… inspiration," Draco replied, pulling a spare parchment from his bag.

He spread the parchment across the space in front of him and pulled out a quill and ink.

"So," Draco began, "How do we make these idiots pay?"

"Well, I guess we could start with the basics… dislikes, worst fears, all that," Blaise said thoughtfully.

"Okay, so we're looking at Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy… was Astoria in there?"

"Nah, she was down the hall with her sister. Stuck up, she is."

Draco rolled his eyes, "she's not stuck up, she just doesn't deign to the likes of _us_," Draco laughed, then continued, "Okay, yeah, she's stuck up."

Blaise looked at Draco thoughtfully, before saying, "I thought she'd be just your type actually."

"Yeah, well I have better plans in store than settling down and making babies and sitting in the big office downtown."

"You're serious about not taking over the company then?" Blaise asked incredulously.

"Let's just say, it was never my dream. Besides, when I don't step up, the next highest shares are held by your family. You should be happy. This sets you up for life." Draco sighed and looked back to his parchment. "I don't know these people well enough to know what to scare them with. Honestly I never cared to find out."

"Well," Blaise said with a grin on his face, "I think I have an idea that will make this work without that info. You done with lunch?"

Draco eyed his egg salad sandwich with loathing, and replied, "Definitely."

"Ok, let's go."

Draco followed Blaise to the seventh floor, and they walked for what seemed forever, until Blaise stopped suddenly near the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy.

"This is helpful," Draco scoffed. "What, are we going to teach them to do ballet like the trolls in the tapestry?"

"No, you moron," Blaise replied. "Just wait right there."

Draco watched as Blaise paced back and forth in front of the blank wall across from the tapestry a few times. Then suddenly, a door appeared. If Draco had blinked he probably would have missed it. Blaise gestured for Draco to follow him, and they went through the door.

What lie on the other side of the door seemed impossible to Draco. A large room lay before him, but it was far from beautiful. It look like some kind of dungeon, with torches on the walls and what seemed to be human remains littering the ground near the walls.

"Welcome to the Come and Go Room," Blaise said, grandly.

"The what now? Why is there a dungeon this high up in the castle?" Draco asked, stumped.

"It's only a dungeon because that was what I asked for. While I was walking in front of the door, I thought hard on the fact that I needed a place to scare my enemies. I guess this is what it thought I meant."

"A room… that gives you what you need? How does it know what's a true need and what's trivial?"

"That's the beauty, it doesn't. Whatever you focus on, that's what it gives you. So if we were to bring, say Pansy up here, we could ask it for Pansy's worst nightmare, for example. As far as I can tell, as long as the creator is in the room, it stays whatever you they choose it to be, and other people can come in. That's the one drawback; anyone can enter once you are using it, unless you 'need' privacy."

"Interesting… how did you find this place?" Draco asked, all ears.

"I was looking for a place to make out with this cute girl back in sixth year. It turned into this cozy little room with a couch and a fireplace. Very good for impressing a lady. I've been sneaking back in here ever since. I'd say I have a pretty good handle on how it works. It can even change itself while you're in it, if you have need."

"Say I needed a cheese sandwich then?"

"Well, it doesn't do food. That's a magical law. If we could conjure food, our money would be worthless, yeah? But for example, I'm getting hot and heavy with this lady one time, and I felt the need for a bed. Poof! There it was."

"Show me. Tell it you need… a sink, I don't know."

Blaise closed his eyes in concentration for a moment, and on the far end of the room appeared a decrepit old industrial sink.

"Ew Blaise, that thing's gross." Draco said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"Hey, I thought it fit the vibe of the room!" Blaise said with a sly grin. "Anyway, I think it'll work. It's worth a try, right?"

"Yeah," Draco agreed, the wheels turning in his head. "I think I have an idea on getting them here too. We're not far from the Hospital Wing, yeah?"

"Right…"

"Well, we do it one by one. Stun them, levicorpus from wherever we grab them to here, and if we're stopped on the way, I work in the hospital wing in my off time, so I can just say the person fainted, and we're taking them to get healed."

"Genius," Blaise said grinning maliciously. "When do we start?"

"Gimme a couple days to practice using this room. Let's do Pansy first, Friday. What do you think her worst fear will be?"

"You breaking up with her?" Blaise mused.

"We're not dating!" Draco yelled, punching Blaise in the arm.

The boys left the Room and went on to their next class, with thoughts of revenge rolling around in their heads.


	35. Patrolling

Chapter 34

It had been a very long day for Hermione Granger. Against her better judgment, she had decided to go to the Gryffindor common room to see Ginny and blow off some steam. As she made her way down the stairwell from her bedroom, she wondered how going downstairs from the first floor got her to a tower on the other side of the castle. Confused, she put it out of her mind, chalking it up to complicated magical construction.

She pushed past the tapestry of Selina Sapworthy and was greeted with the warm and homey sight of the Gryffindor common room. This place was as comfortable as her own living room. Well, more comfortable, considering she'd been in her new living room a total of maybe two times since they moved to the new house.

This place even sounded familiar. The sounds of a merrily crackling fire mixed with murmured voices, scratching quills and the sounds of a game of exploding snap. Looking around, she saw Dean and Neville playing the exploding snap game near the fire, as well as Ginny chatting with Vicky Frobisher on the couch. At the back of the room she saw Ron and Harry trying very hard to work on their homework, but seeming to be distracted by their conversation. She saw their quills had been abandoned a while ago, and the boys just sat talking.

Hermione decided to be brave, and approached Harry and Ron.

"Hi guys," she said, taking a seat at the edge of the table which was covered by their books and parchment.

"Hey," they chorused back, looking slightly guilty, she presumed because she'd caught them not doing homework. For once, Hermione was not so worried about homework though.

Hermione took a deep breath and spoke to Ron, saying, "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. Do you really not remember two nights ago?"

Ron shook his head numbly.

"Well, long story short, you… put me in a position where I had to stun you-" Harry gasped, but Hermione continued, "and I'm afraid that if you don't remember that, then it means you may have some memory loss lingering from the spell."

"What?" Ron asked, confused.

"Just trust me. Just go to madam Pomfrey tomorrow or even tonight if you must, and tell her you're having memory loss secondary to being stunned. See if she can help you."

"Ok…" Ron said slowly, still not quite getting it.

"Look, I don't want you to remember what happened any more than you will once you know, but if you're having memory loss, that's serious. Our Defense book says the effects of a spell can even be permanent, so you need to get it fixed if you can."

"Yeah," Ron said, "I'll go tomorrow between classes I guess. Maybe after Potions."

Hermione smiled and nodded, then stood up. "Well, I'm going to see how Ginny is. I'll see you guys in class tomorrow."

"See ya, Hermione," Harry said, smiling.

Hermione walked across the room to the couch, where Ginny's friend had left her alone, staring into the fire.

'Hey," Hermione said softly.

"Hi," Ginny replied, not taking her eyes off the fire.

"Something bothering you?" Hermione asked.

Ginny turned to face Hermione, placed her hands in her lap and asked, "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Tell someone you like them."

"Surely you've done it before, haven't you Ginny?"

"No! I mean I dated Dean and Michael, but they both hit on me, asked me out. I don't know how to just come out of the blue and say 'hey, I like you.'"

"You think I do?" Hermione asked, half in shock. "I am not the type that goes around spouting her feelings at people. I can't even handle it when-" she lowered voice, "_Ron_ tries to kiss me!"

"Oh, yeah. I forget you're probably more inept at this than I am."

"Thanks," Hermione replied, sticking out her tongue.

"Hey, you said it yourself! I'm just trying to get myself out of the friend zone and into the not-just-my-best-friend's-little-sister-anymore zone."

"Okay, first of all, it's Harry, right?"

Ginny nodded.

"Okay, there is no way he is going to pick up on any subtle signals to ask you out. He's just not that way. The only way anything is going to happen between you two is if you are very plain with him, and just tell him you care about him."

Ginny groaned, "But that's so hard!"

"No whining!" Hermione said with a chuckle. "You want to be more than just his best friend's sister, right? Well then start acting like it! Talk to him more at meals, sit near him in the common room, I don't know, just act like you like him already! Maybe he'll pick up on it if you're obvious about it."

"Maybe that would work," Ginny said, with a resolved look on her face.

"Anyway, I guess I should be getting back upstairs. I have rounds tonight and it's almost curfew." Hermione pulled a face, but stood up to go back to her room. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, goodnight!" Ginny said with a small smile.

Hermione climbed back up the stairs to her dormitory, thinking about her day. Classes had been exhausting, but at least she'd gotten her homework done. Now all she had to think about was stupid rounds with Malfoy.

Still, in the back of her mind, she couldn't stop thinking about Ron's memory. What would he do when he remembered what he had done? Would he feel guilty or would he think she was just stupid for stunning him?

After making it up to her bedroom, she went into her shared bathroom and splashed some water on her face. She just had to stay up long enough to patrol the castle, which was a little over an hour.

Feeling not quite awake enough to put up with Malfoy, she went downstairs to the common room to wait for him. To her distinct surprise, he was already there waiting, perched on the arm of the couch, arms crossed over his silk tie, Italian leather clad shoe tapping on the floor. Practically just thinking about him was expensive.

"Hello," Hermione said warily. "Ready?"

Draco nodded stiffly and led the way out of the common room. Neither of them had ever had to patrol with anyone outside of their house before. As prefects, everything was done in pairs. Now here they were, just the two of them and the apparent silence of the castle.

Hermione looked up the stairwell and said, "Where do you want to start, dungeons or towers?"

"Dungeons, then do top to bottom. So we end up back at our door," Draco suggested gruffly.

Hermione nodded and went first down the stairs to the dungeons.

They walked in silence; the only sound was that of their footsteps echoing off the damp dungeon walls. They checked the potions classroom and storeroom, and found nothing but a lightly simmering cauldron, which they assumed was something Snape was working on.

They made their way to the Hufflepuff common room entrance, which was a large round door made of dark cherry wood with a Hufflepuff banner over the doorway. It was hidden in part by a bunch of barrels, but they didn't do much to keep anyone away.

"They certainly aren't hiding their entrance," Draco scoffed, and the pair moved on.

Deeper down in the bowels of Hogwarts, they approached the Slytherin common room. Down here it was apparent they were under the lake, as there were porthole-style windows every few meters. There was nothing other than darkness to see beyond the glass, though, and it bothered Hermione to look in the windows.

At the end of the Hallway, the path simply stopped, meeting an expanse of wall which would be inconspicuous, if not for the intricate knot work of snakes in the center of the wall. Each had jeweled eyes in a sculpted head that moved every once in a while to look threateningly in a new direction.

_Creepy,_ Hermione thought to herself.

Finding no students in the corridor, they turned and made their way out of the dungeons.

Emerging into the entranceway, they turned and continued their climb up the central spiral stairwell until they reached as high as it would go. To the North was the Astronomy tower, to the South the Divination tower, Gryffindor tower to the West and Ravenclaw tower to the East.

"Start with Ravenclaw and work around?" Hermione suggested when they stalled at the top of the stairs.

Draco nodded, still refusing to make eye contact with the Gryffindor.

The halls were unsurprisingly deserted. This early in the year, the only students likely to be out of bed were the older students, since the young ones were so frightened of the rules. It seemed that the older students must have had enough homework to keep them in tonight, though, because all was quiet.

Ravenclaw's stairwell was deserted, so they moved on to the Divination tower. No one seemed to be lurking on that stairwell either. Hermione happily realized it had been years since she'd been up those stairs.

Next they went to the North tower, which had the owlery on a lower level and the Astronomy room on top. They climbed the stairs up into the North Tower, and found no one lurking in the owlery. Well, no one but a bunch of antsy owls.

The astronomy tower was abandoned as well, but the difference between this place and the one below was the beauty. The sky opened up above them, showcasing millions of stars. It took Hermione's breath away. Even Malfoy in his ever moody stature seemed blown away by the beautiful display above them.

"Makes you feel really insignificant, doesn't it?" Draco asked, so quietly Hermione wasn't sure he was talking to anyone but himself.

"It's just the opposite for me. Times like now make me feel like part of something bigger than myself. Makes me feel connected."

"I see why you like Arithmancy. Everything is written in the stars, but it's-"

"-more sensible than Divination." They finished together.

_That was weird_, Hermione thought, cringing at the fact that she had just finished Malfoy's sentence. She was such a nerd.

"I'm such a nerd, sorry," she said dropping her eyes.

Draco shrugged, and pulled his eyes from the sky above him to look at the Gryffindor girl beside him.

"I would have gone with Geek but…" he said with the tiniest hint of playfulness.

Hermione shoved him with a laugh before she realized what she was doing. The moment she touched his arm, she realized this was not one of her playful guy pals, this was her enemy. He was the bully that had made her life hell since day one at Hogwarts.

She dropped her eyes to the ground and waited for the insults to fly. When none came, she looked back up at the Head Boy in confusion.

"Not going to scrub the mudblood off your arm?" she asked scathingly.

"The sins of the father shall be visited on by the sons," he replied cryptically. When she didn't respond immediately, he went on, "I guess what I'm saying is, I was raised a certain way to believe certain things were true, which I realize now were not. So I guess you didn't deserve to be harassed in the past because of my prejudices."

"Are you… apologizing?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"I don't apologize!" Draco replied gruffly, seeming to remember himself. He jerked his head toward the door, and left, expecting her to follow.

They patrolled the other 6 floors in silence, stopping only once, in the 3rd floor charms classroom to send a couple of students that were using the room for romantic purposes back to their dormitories. Other than deducting 25 points from each of them, Draco did not say a word, so neither did Hermione.

Once they got back to the common room, Hermione went straight up her stairs to her room, then locked herself in the bathroom and took a nice long soak in the tub. It seemed Draco must have needed to use the bathroom, because she heard him banging on his door to the shared bathroom a few minutes into her bath. Picking up her wand, she cast a silencing spell on the door. She had too much to think about without Draco getting in the way. After all, she was still trying to figure him out.


	36. Prefect Meeting

Chapter 35

Draco stayed in the common room after Hermione went up stairs, sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Why had he opened his stupid mouth? He knew the answer to that. He was simply so eager for forgiveness that he didn't care who he asked for it from. He just wanted to somehow make up for all the times he'd let his father's prejudices command his behavior and speech. But, instead of apologizing to someone who would make him feel better about it, he'd stupidly opened himself up to the one person who would never consider forgiving him.

He'd just done too much to Granger. The wounds were too deep to be healed. As much as he craved forgiveness or even just to be karmically neutral, he still didn't want to like her. He didn't know what had possessed him to open up to her like that. It was a fool's errand, trying to win her favor. She didn't like anything that didn't have a cover, pages and ink.

Still, she had seemed fine with spending time with him, up until something in her brain convinced her otherwise. He could understand your brain getting in the way. It happened to him all the time.

_Ugh, why am I still thinking about her?_ Draco thought to himself. His mind had worked its way around from the bookworm he barely knew back to that day on the train when he'd accidentally watched her get dressed, and to the flash of her hair when she got out of the car at the house next door.

Something was putting her in his path, but he didn't know if it was fate, or some sort of punishment, or maybe a chance at redemption. Either way, he knew it wouldn't end well.

Finally tired after a long day, Draco went up to his dorm, and tried to go to the bathroom before bed. Of course, the door was locked, and he banged on it for a while, angry at her for locking him out, but eventually he just gave up and lay down. Just before going to sleep though, he pulled out the journal, and wrote:

**_I know you're probably in bed already, just wanted to say sorry we couldn't talk tonight. I had a lot of homework to get out of the way. Maybe we can talk tomorrow?_**

**_Night_**

Feeling like he had finally met someone who wouldn't judge him terribly, Draco went to sleep for the few hours he had left before breakfast.

Hermione had been up since 7 that morning, but midnight came without her being too tired. After her long bath, she took her time to dry and straighten her hair. Once she was happy with it, she placed a freezing charm on her hair to keep it from curling in her sleep.

She lay down and tossed and turned for a few minutes, before remembering to check her journal. She hadn't thought about Jake all evening. She saw a small note from him, but she had no idea when he'd written it, probably hours ago.

She decided not to respond just yet. She would write back to him tomorrow. After all, she would hate for the journal to light up in his dorm and wake up him or his roommates.

No, Hermione just tucked the journal back under her pillow and tried to force herself to sleep.

The week went by quickly for both Hermione and Draco. Draco practiced using the Room of Requirement to do his bidding, while Hermione focused on getting through class with Draco without questioning his entire being. They didn't speak for the rest of the week, and the one other time they were required to be near each other was the prefect's meeting on Thursday night.

AS it was the first official meeting at Hogwarts, Professor Dumbledore met with the Prefects and Heads. He congratulated them all on their appointment, or retention of their titles. After congratulations were taken care of, he gave them some words of wisdom.

"As the year passes, for some of you it is the final, some merely the penultimate, remember that the real magic in Hogwarts is the opportunity to live out your dreams, to realize your fantasies, and to explore your full potential, whether that potential be of an academic variety or perhaps something a little closer to the heart." Hermione could have sworn his eyes twinkled at her when he said the last part. He continued, "No matter where your Hogwarts journey takes you, let us make sure that the dreams, fantasies and potential of one student never interrupt that of another. That is where you come in; keeping our halls safe and keeping our students orderly – within reason that is." Albus Dumbledore smiled at them all once more, then backed out the door and left them with Professor McGonagall.

"Well," Professor McGonagall began, peering at the students over her square spectacles. "Another year has begun, and I am happy to see you've all made it back. I'm sure you've all gotten well enough acquainted with who is who between the train and the first few days of rounds, so I won't bother with any introduction nonsense. Instead, let's get down to business."

"Rounds have begun this week," she went on. "Have you run into any problems or confusion with the schedule?" Someone in front raised a hand. "Yes, Mr. Smith?"

"Will we be able to modify the rounds schedule if they interfere with Quidditch practice?"

"I'm sure that will be possible, but as I have 3 Quidditch captains in here, I'd like to say do try to schedule around your rounds as much as possible. Prefect should be your first responsibility. Now, anyone else?" No one raised a hand or called out, so the professor continued. "Alright, as you know, it is the prefects' responsibility to plan the Halloween ball for seventh years. Those of you who are not in your seventh year, I'm sorry that you'll be wasting your time on something you will not be attending, but there will be no younger students allowed unless they have a seventh year date."

"Now, the usual theme for the Halloween Ball is a masquerade. Does anyone oppose to that theme?"

No one spoke up to oppose it, or offered a better alternative, so McGonagall went on, "Very well, that them has worked just fine in the past, seeing as it fits with Halloween as well. Now I will need each of you to pair up into groups to handle each of the following: decorations, music, menu preparation, invitations, and cleanup. I suggest that the cleanup crew be sixth years, and yes, you will be able to recruit volunteers to help you in these areas, you will simply be in charge of those areas."

Everyone discussed for a while and came to the consensus that it would be easiest to stick within their prefect pairs so they could work within their common rooms. Luna and Michael took decorations, Colin and Romilda took menu, Malcolm and Astoria took music, and Zacharias and Sarah took clean-up, which left Hermione and Draco with invitations. Hermione had a feeling she'd be hand-addressing envelopes all alone.

The meeting ended, and everyone went their separate ways. It was after dinner, but Hermione didn't feel like running to the library just yet. The meeting had been held in the room just off the Great Hall where the staff usually had their meetings, so it wasn't a long walk back to her common room. As she got a clear view of the door, she was let down to see Draco was there, attempting to solve the riddle and gain entry.

She stepped up just in time to hear the riddle.

_The man who invented it doesn't want it. _

_The man who bought it doesn't need it. _

_The man who needs it doesn't know it._

_ What is it?_

Hermione stayed quiet, and let Draco think. She wanted to see if he was _really_ as smart as he swore he was.

Draco was very quiet for a few minutes before answering, "A coffin."

The sphinx nodded and the door opened. Hermione made to follow Draco inside, and he must not have noticed her, because he jumped about a foot in the air.

"_Merlin!_ Granger what the hell are you doing?" Draco asked, clutching his chest.

"Going inside," she replied with a snide smile, and pushed past him into the room.

Hermione sat down at the large table in the common room and pulled out some parchment and a quill and began to draft an idea for the invitations.

"Don't you think you should get some input on that from me?" Draco asked quietly.

"I assumed you wouldn't want to do something so girly." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

"If you could avoid giggling and squealing during the process, I'd be glad to help," he said with a smirk. "Besides, I have etiquette training. I know what these should say."

"Oh and I don't have any manners, huh?" she challenged.

"I wouldn't know, you've never exhibited any in front of me," he said with a huge eye roll.

"I'll have you know I'm very polite!" Hermione scoffed.

"Right, because slapping someone in the face is polite," Draco replied pointedly.

"Ooh, Draco Malfoy you have no right to lecture me on manners you little prat!"

"Not so little anymore though, am I?" Draco asked, walking up to the table. From Hermione's seated position he did tower over her, and standing up she assumed he'd have her by almost a foot.

"Let's try this again," Hermione said, begging her heart to beat steadily and her breathing to slow. "Malfoy-" she began. Draco cleared his throat. "What?"

"It's either Draco or Mr. Malfoy."

Hermione sighed and started over, saying "_Draco_, would you like to assist me with the invitations for the ball?"

"No, that's house elf work," Draco replied with a smirk, kicking back on the back two legs of the chair with his fingers laced behind his head.

Hermione whacked him on the arm with her stack of parchment, but this time, unlike earlier that week, he simply laughed it off and dropped his haughty pose.

"Okay, okay, I'll help," He said, laughing. "I was kidding!"

"Glad to have the help," Hermione said gratefully. "I have never had to write anything this formal. Got an idea of the basic structure for something like this?"

"Sure," Draco said pulling the parchment to him. He began to scribble in a strangely beautiful yet manly script, as she pondered the other logistics.

"I'm sure I know a copying spell that we can use. The only hard part will be addressing them to all the seventh years. I mean, we only need a name and a house, but that's a lot of names."

"I'm sure we'll think of something," Draco said, shrugging. "If only we had a computer with a printer that would work here."

"Yeah," Hermione said, before catching herself. "You know about muggle computers?"

"Yes…" he replied slowly, "I'm not stupid."

"Oh," Hermione said. "Yeah, of course you do."

Draco finished the last line with flourish and shoved the parchment to Hermione's edge of the table. "Let me know what you think," he said.

_Head Boy Draco Malfoy_

_Head Girl Hermione Granger_

_Invite you to a Masquerade Ball in honor of your final year _

_At_

_ Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry_

_October 31, 1998_

_8:00 PM_

_Formal attire and masks required_

"Pretty good," Hermione said, nodding. "But it's too long to fit on the front of a card without being tiny. If we put our names on the same line, I think it'll just fit," she added, with a smirk for good measure.

"Fine," Draco said, rolling his eyes, but not in a completely malicious way.

"Well, that's settled, just have to find the right charms to produce them, then envelopes, address and take them to the owlery."

"We're ahead of the curve then," Draco said, "Because they don't need to be delivered until mid-October."

"Sorry if I'm a little eager, but I know class work will pick up by then, so better safe than sorry," Hermione said, shrugging.

A few minutes passed before Hermione and Draco realized that they were sitting with their sworn enemy. Hermione was shocked to see she had a smile on her face, and even more shocked that Draco had spent that much time in her vicinity. Something broke in that moment, and they both quickly went to their individual rooms, seeking solace to sort out what had just happened.


	37. New Tricks

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the outstanding reviews lately! It's getting me really motivated! This will be the 3****rd**** chapter I've submitted today (assuming I finish it tonight, of course). Another good note, we exceeded 50,000 words! Yay! I couldn't do it without you! As far as the status of the story, we're about at the midpoint, and I think there's only 7 weeks in my timeline for the story, but those should go pretty quickly. Who knows? This thing's pretty much writing itself at this point, so we'll see!**

Chapter 36

Hermione sat on her bed, trying to sort through her feelings from sitting in the room with Malfoy. _Draco_ her mind corrected automatically, and she shook the feeling away. She couldn't believe they'd actually gotten along for a few minutes. Had he really changed? Some little part of her hoped he had, but the rest of her refused to believe it. Hermione granger was not one to believe anything without solid proof.

Sighing, she grabbed her brush from her nightstand and ran it through her hair. She just didn't know how to sort out what was feeling from fact. She had never been conflicted in such a way. After all, she was a very analytical thinker. Confident. Calculating. This touch and go emotional guesswork was more than she could stand.

Tossing the brush on the floor with yet another sigh, she pulled her two-way journal from under her pillow. She saw that Jake hadn't said anything since the night before. _Oh,_ she thought, _Guess that means it's my turn!_

Grabbing a quill, she got to work.

_Hello!_

_How is your day going?_

_Sorry I missed you last night, I was up late studying._

_**Hello again.**_

_**My day has been interesting to say the least.**_

_How so?_

_**Just making new acquaintances you could say.**_

_I thought a Slytherin's only friends were his ego and his pocketbook?_

_**Very funny, Gryffindork…**_

_If we weren't writing in a diary right now, I'd stick my tongue out at you._

_**Ooh, so scathing. Watch out, we've got a Slytherin wannabe over here!**_

_Yeah right! I like being "brave"_

_**I bet you are brave. You actually came out to meet me, some random stranger online.**_

_Okay, maybe I'm a little reckless, but you seem harmless enough._

_**You don't know me… I'm a dark and powerful wizard.**_

_Yeah right, I bet you spend your days making up charms to make your life easier._

_**Guilty.**_

_**I came up with a new one.**_

_Ooh, do tell._

_**Well it was less of a charm and more of charming an object. I made my broom a self cleaning brush.**_

_**Charmed my old broom brush to have an unending supply of handle polish.**_

_**Then I made it so I can tap it with my wand, and it'll go to work polishing the handle on its own.**_

_That sounds a little dirty…_

_**Shush! You keep your Gryffindor gutter humour to yourself missy!**_

_No, but I like it. New twists on old spells._

_**I guess you **_**can**_** teach an old elf new tricks.**_

_Don't you mean dog?_

_**Oh, I thought the saying went differently.**_

_Yeah. Well, I should study._

_**We still on for next weekend?**_

_Sure._

Hermione stared at the page for a moment. Did she really want to get to know someone who joked so lightly about elf rights? That was ridiculous! She was vaguely upset, but something about him just made her think he didn't know better.

Placing the journal safely back under her pillow, she grabbed her messenger bag and went to the library to work on her Ancient Runes homework.

xxx

Draco went up to his room, but did not stop for long, before exiting the door to his right to go down to the common room. He hated the long stairwell that took him down to the dungeons, so Draco had transfigured it into a slide. It was much faster to go down, and if he wanted to come back up the same way, he just needed to tap the banister in a certain spot.

Draco Malfoy was not one to land in a heap at the bottom of anything, and as the slide ended he braced himself, landing gracefully on his feet behind a tapestry of Cliodna. Of course his passageway would be hidden by the Celtic Irish goddess of beauty. It just fit.

Sweeping the tapestry aside and out of his way, Draco stepped into the relative gloom that was the common room. There was a fire in the fireplace, but it hadn't been well tended and didn't give the room any real warmth. Draco guessed that this sad state was because most of the house elves were afraid of the Slytherins.

Draco immediately spotted who he was looking for in an arm chair across the room.

Blaise looked up as Draco sat across from him in another dark arm chair. Blaise nodded his greeting, and Draco reciprocated.

"So," Draco said, "We still on for tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Blaise said, and then leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Every night after dinner, Pansy goes to the owlery to owl her parents."

"That's perfect," Draco said, "That's so close to where we need her."

"I know right?" Blaise agreed, "It's like she wants us to scare the dung out of her."

The boys grinned at each other maliciously, and then sat around for a while before getting bored. Draco stole a wizard chess board from some first years across the room and the guys played chess until they couldn't stay awake any longer. Tomorrow was a big day for them. Tomorrow was the day Draco would get his revenge.


	38. Roses and Rainwater

**A/N: Sorry for the sort of hiatus there, I had some time off work and was attempting to get myself back in good health. I hope that the massive update at the beginning of last week made up for it, and I'm happy to say I'm back! Enjoy!**

Chapter 37

Draco woke up early Friday morning, slumped over in an armchair in the Slytherin common room. He sat up, and rubbed his chin, his soft fingers scraping against the stubble that grown overnight.

_Ugh_, he thought to himself, _Why did I sleep here?_ He yawned and stretched his arms over his head, before checking his watch. 5:30 AM. Why was he awake at 5:30 AM? Draco shook his head and went to the tapestry and made is way up the long stairwell to his bedroom. He fully planned on getting a bit more sleep before breakfast.

However, as Draco stretched out on his silk sheets, a noise kept him from falling back asleep. It was a voice. Someone, presumable Granger, was singing in the bathroom. He crept quietly to the bathroom door, straining to catch the melody she was weaving. He placed a hand against the bathroom door to steady himself, and was surprised when the door pushed open easily.

She hadn't locked the bathroom? She had to be the stupidest smart person Draco knew. Well, not knew perhaps, but was aware of. Draco focused on her song. It was beautifully lyrical, and suited her voice well. He had never realized she could sing. Of course, music wasn't something student usually pursued at Hogwarts. It was overshadowed by magical ability and Quidditch talent.

Still, Draco thought there was something to be said for the power of music. He tried to hear the words to her song, but either the tiles were reverberating in such a way to muffle them, or there were none. She was so confident that Draco had assumed it was a well known song, but now he pondered that she may be making it up as she went.

He very quietly eased himself back and crooked his neck to see beyond the cracked door. In the reflection of the large mirror above the countertop, Draco could see the tub. It was filled with pink and blue bubbles, which somehow hadn't mixed to make purple, and out of the foam protruded a long tanned leg, which stretched from soft knee to graceful ankle, and ended in a lithe foot with adorable round toes. The sight of her leg was heart-stopping to Draco, partially because it was so dramatic and beautiful against the foam, but mostly because it was nothing like what he was attracted to in his everyday life.

She was like that to him, though; so different, yet so beautiful for it. He remembered back to the previous day when they had gotten along over the shared responsibility of invitations to the ball. He wondered if they would get along over their shared head responsibilities. Draco doubted that, since she seemed so adamant about keeping him at a broomstick's length, both emotionally and physically.

Draco crept back into his room and pulled the door behind him as quietly as possible. Part of him felt ashamed for looking at her while another part said sensibly that it was just a leg, just a beautiful leg.

He crawled into bed, and as he fell asleep, a third part of him whispered of beauty and tanned legs and chestnut hair and love.

xxx

Hermione had woken early that day as well, but with a much more pleasant mood. She mused with the idea of getting an hour more of shuteye, but decided instead to take advantage of the extra time to take a bath. As she watched the bath fill, she thought about her day ahead. Just a few more classes and she'd have a weekend to relax. She was certain she'd have some homework to do, but she looked forward to doing some pleasure reading. She'd been wanting to learn about the process of becoming an animagus. Though, in reality, it would have little usefulness in the real world, unless she became an auror.

Sinking down in the hot water, she turned it off, and pulled at another faucet. This one dispensed pink bubbles that smelled of roses. Sighing happily, she pulled open another, which released blue bubbles. These smelled like fresh rain, and combined, the smells were overwhelmingly beautiful.

Lying back in the bubbles, Hermione crossed her legs, feeling luxurious. It was so soothing, she just wanted to sing. She relaxed there for about an hour, singing and scrubbing and just enjoying the freedom. She had classes all day, then rounds tonight with Luna, which would be simple.

Sighing, Hermione looked up at the owl clock on the wall, and saw that it was 6 AM. Time for Hermione to get ready for class. Toweling off, she went to her room and started to get ready to face the day.

After dressing, reorganizing her messenger bag, drying and styling her hair somewhat, Hermione had finally wasted enough time to be able to go to breakfast.

Hermione sat next to Ginny, who smiled up from her Daily Prophet.

"Hey, Mia, how are you?" she asked.

Hermione smiled back, and said, "Fine, good."

"Why the double answer?"

"Just thought fine wasn't strong enough. I've had a very good morning."

Ginny smiled to herself and nodded, "I know the feeling."

Hermione could tell something was up with her friend, so she had to ask, "What's got you all sunny and smiling?"

"Quidditch tryouts are today, and Harry wished me good luck."

"That's all? I swear you must be in love with that boy."

"He's a _man_, Hermione, and I know I like him. He just makes me happy when he does little things like that."

"Well, I'm sure your tryout will go well, and isn't Harry the captain anyway? Now way he's keeping you off the team. You were a great chaser last year."

Ginny patted Hermione on the head like an errant puppy, "It's so cute when you pretend to know anything about Quidditch." She laughed, shaking her red hair away from her face.

"Guilty as charged, but I almost had you going, right?" Hermione asked, laughing as well.

"Well, at least you used the right words this time. What about you, I haven't gotten to talk to you in a couple days. Everything okay living with Malfoy? No more indecent exposure I hope?"

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Actually…" she paused for a moment, and then went on, "We almost got along yesterday."

"Proximity to the beast?" Ginny suggested in way of explanation.

"No, we haven't even been around each other much. I mean we have rounds together and classes occasionally. It's just, yesterday was different. He exceeded my expectations, I guess. I really thought he couldn't play nice."

"Well, I guess there are surprises everywhere," Ginny mused.

"He even asked me to call him Draco."

"What?" Ginny exclaimed. She caught herself and quieted down though, yet continued to stare at Hermione. "If that's not weird…"

"Yeah, well it only lasted a few minutes, and then I guess he remembered I'm not worth his time and ran off to his room." Hermione rolled her eyes and scraped the last bit of porridge from the bottom of her bowl. "Where are harry and Ron, anyway?" Hermione asked, looking up and down the table.

"Ron told Harry what happened and he made him go to the hospital wing before tryouts today, just to make sure everything's fine."

"Oh…" Hermione replied, a little floored. "I didn't think he'd tell Harry. I would never have told him." A light pink tinge appeared on Hermione's cheeks.

"Well, I'm your best friend and Harry is Ron's. I don't think he could deal with this on his own. You should be glad he admitted it."

"Yeah, I guess." Hermione agreed, nodding. "I think I'll go up and check on them. The hospital wing's not far from my Arithmancy class."

Hermione grabbed her things, and with a quick goodbye, was on her way up to the sixth floor. She had almost made it to the hospital wing, when she heard voices inside. One voice was yelling above the others.

"It's not her fault! She had a good reason," Harry's voice said, trying to reason with the louder one.

"If you won't explain the situation, Mr. Weasley, I have no choice but to report it," came Madame Pomfrey's voice, soothing but professional.

"No!" yelled the loud and angry voice, which Hermione recognized to be Ron's, "I won't explain, just fix me so I can try out for Quidditch today!"

"I'm afraid that's out of the question, Mr. Weasley, as there is nothing to fix. The damage is done. I can attempt to put together a concoction to alleviate the symptoms, but things like this will keep happening in the meantime, making it unadvisable for you to fly."

There was a crash, and Hermione pulled herself behind a column to attempt to hide as she heard loud footsteps nearing the door.

"I'm so sorry," she heard Harry say. "I'll clean this up."

"Just go Mr. Potter, and take care that he doesn't have another episode. If he does, let me know," Madam Pomfrey's voice said firmly.

Outside in the hall, Hermione cast a quick disillusionment charm, just in time for Ron to stomp by without seeing her. Harry followed quickly after, but Hermione couldn't remove the charm quick enough to get his attention. She removed it with a wave of her wand, and tried to process everything she had just heard. Ron was having some sort of reaction to the stunning spell, some sort of lingering problem. Madam Pomfrey had called it an episode. Hermione remembered from the conversation that she was in trouble as well, if Ron didn't come forward with a reason for _why_ she'd stunned him. She didn't know what they were going to do, or what Ron's problem was, but she hoped those answers would become clear soon.

There was a noise from the Hospital Wing, and Hermione looked up, just in time to catch a blonde head of hair accompanied by silver-grey eyes staring at her, calculating. Draco was leaning out from the inside of the door, just… looking at her.

Hermione locked eyes with him, and for a moment, she felt like he understood something. Then, as quickly as that feeling came, it was gone, and he disappeared back into the hospital wing.

**Please Review! It really does help me develop the story and keeps me motivated! With the new system, it's so quick and easy, there's no reason not to! Unless you hate me… JK!**


	39. A different point of view

Chapter 38

Draco slept in as long as he possibly could, then grabbed a quick bite in the Great Hall. As he ate his simple quick breakfast of toast and porridge, he noticed that very few people ate this early in the morning. Draco normally didn't like subjecting his stomach to food this early either, but he had to get to the Hospital Wing to help madam Pomfrey before Arithmancy to ensure that he'd have time for his little revenge plot later.

After stuffing down as much as he could and washing it down with some pumpkin juice, he made his way up to the Hospital Wing to get a little work in.

When he got there, madam Pomfrey was bustling around, but no more hectically than usual, since only one bed towards the end was occupied. Draco made himself busy by filling up the rolling cart with the potions madam Pomfrey liked to keep on hand at all times.

He organized them by color: the pink was pep up potion, red for a healing draught, blue was a dreamless sleep draught, and green was for a restorative draught for victims of burns or lingering dark magic. Finally happy with his work, Draco looked up at the clock and saw he still had a good 20 minutes before class. He was just about to wheel the cart back into madam Pomfrey's storage closet, when he heard unpleasantly familiar voices.

Potter and Weasley walked in the Hospital Wing then, and Draco ducked out of sight just in time. Like he needed them to know more about him. It would just fuel their taunts even further. No, Draco would stay still and silent and let Madam Pomfrey take care of the dunces.

Madam Pomfrey made her way out to check on the new arrivals, and if she saw Draco in his hiding place, she didn't say anything. Instead she addressed the two boys, trying to assess the problem.

It seemed they had been fighting on their way up to the wing, but when she arrived they clammed up.

"What can I help you with, boys?" Madam Pomfrey asked, peering over her glasses.

Harry spoke up first, saying, "Ron here got stunned a week or two ago, and I think he's having some lingering effects."

"I am _not_ having lingering effects," Ron interrupted, with uncontrollable anger in his voice.

"Of course not, Ron," Harry placated, but continued to Madam Pomfrey, "This is what I mean, he's having a lot of aggression, more so than usual."

"Well it's important to know the strength of the stunning spell. How close in proximity was the wand to Ron when it was cast?"

Harry looked at a loss, saying, "I wasn't there when it happened, and he's having memory loss as well. He doesn't even remember it happened."

"Then how do you know what spell was cast?" Madam Pomfrey asked, nonplussed. "It could be something worse."

"It's not something worse, it was Hermione, and she didn't mean to hurt him. Ron, just tell her what happened."

"No!" Ron growled angrily.

"Mr. Weasley, if I don't know what happened I don't know how to treat you, but if Ms. Granger has attacked you, I will need to know to report it, as well."

Draco scanned his mind, trying to think why in the world Hermione Granger would attack her supposed best friend. He couldn't think of anything, unless Ron was doing something nefarious. Then again, maybe Granger had gone bad. That would give him a good reason to be getting along with her recently at least.

"It's not her fault! She had a good reason," Harry said, trying to reason with Ron.

"If you won't explain the situation, Mr. Weasley, I have no choice but to report it," Madame Pomfrey said soothingly.

"No!" Ron yelled, "I won't explain, just fix me so I can try out for Quidditch today!"

"I'm afraid that's out of the question, Mr. Weasley, as there is nothing to fix. The damage is done. I can attempt to put together a concoction to alleviate the symptoms, but things like this will keep happening in the meantime, making it unadvisable for you to fly."

Draco heard a crash, and leaned out of his hiding place to see what had happened. The cart that he had just organized so meticulously was turned over, and many of the potion vials were broken and mixing on the floor. Madam Pomfrey swiftly grabbed a syringe full of calming draught from the shelf behind her and injected Ron. Draco knew from experience it would take him a few minutes to wind down, but that the draught should take care of the angry episode.

"I'm so sorry," Harry said. "I'll clean this up." Behind him, Ron stomped away, but Draco could hear his footsteps lightening as he went and as the draught started working.

"Just go Mr. Potter, and take care that he doesn't have another episode. If he does, let me know," Madam Pomfrey said firmly.

Draco stepped out of his hiding place, and Madam Pomfrey looked over at him, her eyes clearing saying "_Going to hide over there all day?"_ Draco replied with an apologetic smile, and moved to help her clean up the mess, but it was gone with a wave of her wand.

Madam Pomfrey simply shook her head and went back into her office, and Draco stuck his head out the door to make sure the wonder twins were gone. When he peered out from behind the hospital wing door, however, he found a different member of the Golden Trio.

Hermione Granger of all people was slumped against a large marble column on one side of the hall. She seemed to be weighing her problems and her issues, and coming up with an unsatisfactory sum. Her brown eyes were welling up with stubborn tears that refused to fall, and it made them all the more attractive to Draco. He was surprised when she looked up at him, but continued to look at her. He just didn't understand her.

Why was she so bewitching to him? Could it be something simple like a spell, or was it something more primal and unavoidable? As her eyes locked onto his, he knew one thing was for sure. Hermione was not a dangerous woman. If she attacked Ron, it was self-defense or because he really deserved it. This fragile, feminine thing sitting before him was not capable of true evil. She was simply too delicate. It made Draco sad, because it meant that there could never be anything between them. He would only hurt her.

Draco went back in the Hospital Wing before the girl could speak. He didn't want to disturb her solace, so he just helped Madam Pomfrey take care of some minor housekeeping chores before slipping into his Arithmancy classroom just before it began. Of course the only table left was the one across from Granger. After her little moment in the hallway, he didn't really want to face her, but the option of sitting alone won out over sharing a table with a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.

Luckily for Draco there was no group work until the very end of class. Professor Vector completed the lecture on Chaldean rituals and asked them to get out their homework scrolls on the subject. She had them pair up, to Draco's chagrin, with the person across the aisle again, but this time it was just to proofread each others' work, so there was no awkwardness of having to sit together.

Predictably, Draco couldn't find anything wrong with her scroll, but he was happy to find she had not marked any flaws on his either. Their homework assignment was to make the corrections and turn in the scrolls the following class period. Draco ducked out of the classroom as quickly as possible, and avoided Hermione for the rest of the day. He had more important things to think of than brown eyes glistening with tears. He had to have his revenge.


	40. Revenge

Chapter 39

After classes, Draco sat in the Slytherin common room, waiting for Blaise to get back from Divination and staring at his hands. He had started looking at them out of boredom, but now was enthralled with how perfect humans were. Sure, some were more perfect than others, like him for example, but when he imagined all the bones and muscles and ligaments under the skin, he was simply amazed.

Draco rolled his eyes at his own cheesiness. He really needed to stop studying so hard at the Hospital Wing. Then again, he hadn't applied to any positions after Hogwarts yet, out of fear of being inadequate, so maybe in reality he should be studying harder. All the effort put into outdoing Granger in classes had been taking away from his Hospital Wing work though, since he refused to get less than an O on any homework assignment.

Blaise entered through the stone door then, bringing Draco out of his reverie.

"Hey Draco," Blaise said with a small nod.

"Blaise," Draco replied simply.

Draco stood to meet Blaise as he walked over, and asked him, "You ready for this?"

"Never been more ready in my life," Blaise said, then thought about it and added, "Other than in bed."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Did growing up with a widowed mom with a penchant for younger men turn you into that much of a man whore? Honestly!"

Blaise chuckled, and punched Draco in the arm lightly, "Man whore? Coming from you that's a compliment."

Draco shook his head, and grabbed Blaise by the robes. "Come on, we have to get to dinner. Wouldn't want to miss Pansy's trip to the owlery, now would we?"

Blaise dutifully followed his friend to the Great Hall where they enjoyed their dinner as much as they could. Draco had nervous butterflies in his stomach, but they seemed to fuel him further. He was still so angry about them laughing about his family. Sure, Pansy hadn't done much but pity him, but there was also the fact that she was so obsessed with him and even though he turned her down often, she still pestered him. It wasn't as though she would get any part of the dowry with his parents gone and their contract null, so he didn't know what her interest was in him.

She would be the first to be punished if only because it would get her off his back. Then would come Goyle's payback, which would be far worse than anything that would happen to Pansy.

Blaise's voice took Draco out of his thoughts and brought him back to reality. "Don't plot too hard," he said softly, "You'll give yourself a stroke."

Draco rolled his eyes and tried to focus on finishing his mashed potatoes, but was still focusing on Pansy out of the corner of his eye. When her pug like face was finished being stuffed with roast and potatoes, she stood up and made her customary trip up to the owlery.

Draco gave Blaise a look, and a few moments later, they stood to follow her. They made their way along, keeping back just far enough to still be able to hide easily if she turned. They crept along behind her just until she made it into the owlery, then Draco turned to Blaise.

Draco flashed Blaise a thumbs up, as if verifying that Blaise would get everything ready. Blaise nodded and backtracked to the special room to get it ready. Draco had no idea why Hogwarts had such a room, but if he could use it for his advantage, that was fine by him.

Draco calmed himself down, plastering a cool smile across his face and went into the owlery. He leaned against one elbow propped up on the doorway, and regarded Pansy through his eyelashes. He made sure to turn on all his charm, and waited for her to notice him.

Pansy folded her letter to her parents up and sealed it with a sticking spell, before tying it to a large horned owl's leg. The owl fluttered off, and Pansy turned to find herself face to face with the exact person she'd wanted to run into. There was Draco Malfoy before her, absolutely smoldering with attractiveness and oozing self-confidence.

Grinning she squealed, "Draco! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, baby," He responded, and Pansy didn't notice the hitch in his voice that almost betrayed his intent. "I have a surprise for you," he added, using his sexiest throaty voice.

Pansy skipped across the room in what seemed like two steps, and was at Draco's side. Draco resisted the urge to recoil, and instead used his free hand to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

She ran her hand over his flexed bicep and up to the hand he had his face propped against. "It took you long enough to come around, Drakey," she said, touching his face with her long, emerald green nails.

"I can make up for that," he replied, with a smirk, "I have a surprise for you." He pulled a dark green silk scarf from his back pocket, and ran it over his hands, before moving to affix it across her eyes.

"But-" Pansy tried to say something, but Draco pressed a finger to her lips, effectively quieting her. He went back to the task of tying the blindfold across her eyes, and then cast a silent charm to keep her from seeing underneath it. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her on in front of him.

"It won't be very far," he said to her, "Just trust me." Secretly Draco was glad that they had decided to go with the idea of willing seduction, rather than stunning and levitating Pansy. After everything he had heard in the hospital wing, he didn't really want to get expelled just for a little stunning spell gone awry.

After a couple awkward minutes of walking, Draco go her in front of the come and go room, and whispered to her, "I'll be right back," before casting a Muffliato spell around her head. He strode up to Blaise and talked quietly just in case the spell wasn't perfect, saying, "We all set?"

"Yep, one worst nightmare for pansy Parkinson coming up, but you gotta see it before we put her in there, look-" Blaise opened the door a little farther so Draco could see in. The room seemed pretty normal actually. It was a large bedroom with a four poster bed covered in girly bedding.

"You think it's going to actually make her sleep and dream?" Draco asked, confused.

"I don't know," Blaise responded, adding, "But I know that's her bedroom from home."

Draco stared at his friend pointedly, clearly wanting to know what exactly he'd been doing in pansy's bedroom.

"Come on, our mom's are best friends, I was at her place a lot as a kid!" Blaise brushed him off, and got back to the subject at hand. "Listen, I have to be in there for the room to do what I asked of it, so do you want to come in and watch, too? We can cast something on ourselves so we won't be seen.

"Yeah, disillusionment charm, let's do that," Draco agreed, nodding.

Blaise slipped back into the room, and found a corner to sit in, while Draco lifted the Muffliato charm and led Pansy into the room and to the edge of the bed.

"I'll be right back," Draco said to her again, then ran over to where Blaise was sitting, and cast a disillusionment charm over each of them in turn. With his wand, he gave a flick towards Pansy, releasing the scarf from both the charm and the knot, so it fell harmlessly on her lap.

Pansy looked around, confused, and called out, "Drakey? Where'd you go sweetie?" She craned her neck around, searching the vast and empty room for him. After a couple minutes, she gave up, and looked down at the bad on which she was sitting. She seemed to recognize it, and curled up near the pillow. Once she leaned her head against the pillow, however, the room seemed to change. The area around the bed seemed to populate itself with a girl's bedroom, complete with windows streaming light.

Pansy seemed confused, but a little entranced by the change, and stood up to meet a figure that came up to her, embracing her. She pulled away from him, and in a ray of magical sunlight from the supposed windows, Draco and Blaise recognized the man to be Draco himself.

Pansy kissed the dream Draco and dragged him onto the bed, where Draco had the great displeasure of watching his imaginary dream doppelganger making love to Pansy. But as they continued the act, the sunlight in the windows faded as clouds rolled in outside the dream room. A storm began to rage, and in a flash of lightning, Draco's doppelganger was gone.

Pansy sat up abruptly, looking around for him, calling out to him, begging him to come back. She stood to try to follow him to wherever he'd gone, and caught sight of her body in the mirror. Her stomach had become large and swollen, and as she turned to the side to look at it, it was clear that she was pregnant. She rubbed her hands over the smooth bump, realizing that she was pregnant and all alone. Pansy fell to her knees and wept, wailing loudly, screaming Draco's name. Part of him almost wanted to run up to her and make her feel better, but he doubted the dream room would let him enter. He was also still very angry at her, so the rest of him felt good about the imaginary pain she was experiencing. After all, it was just a nightmare.

The dream room shifted again, and Pansy moved back to the bed, as if she'd had this dream many times, and knew where the action would be. Draco's doppelganger appeared again, and this time he had a voice. He began shouting a screaming at Pansy, calling her fat and useless, and saying how he would never love her and she was just a good time gone bad.

She wept again, begging his forgiveness, begging him to take care of the baby when it would be born, begging him to take her back. Dream Draco didn't listen, however, and left the room, leaving Pansy alone and trapped there once more.

The dream shifted yet again, and Pansy was in childbirth, her mother leaning over her. Her mother's words were not kind, however, and she berated Pansy, calling her loathsome and stupid, and saying how ignorant it was to have a child out of wedlock, and how she didn't deserve to be loved by a respectable man and would never amount to anything.

Once Pansy was handed her baby, the dream shifted once more. Though Draco and Blaise could still see the bed, Pansy could not. From her point of view, the top of the bed was the grimy brick of Diagon Alley, where she was begging for change, with her young baby in tow. It seemed she had been disowned, and had to live on the street, taking what she could to survive.

This scene struck Draco the most, and once again he felt compelled to help her. He jumped up and tried to enter the dream area, but it was as if an unseen force kept him out. He pushed again, but could not get through the barrier around the grimy street corner where Pansy lay. In the dream, Pansy's beggar's cup slipped from her hand and fell, a few knuts rolling out, as her head hit the ground and her eyes closed, seeming dead.

"Stop it Blaise, you have to stop it!" he yelled, the panic creeping up in his voice.

Blaise closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment, and soon the room around Pansy disintegrated and she was left lying on the pink frilly bed, her arm still outstretched in the same awful position as the dream.

Draco jumped towards her and touched the side of her neck to see if she was alive or not. After a few tense moments, he found a pulse, and attempted to wake her, saying "Rennervate."

She stirred, and after a moment, she opened her eyes. She looked around but didn't connect with Draco, reminding him that he still had a disillusionment charm on himself. He dashed away, removed it, then came back to the bed and sat next to Pansy.

"Sorry, looks like I drifted off," she said a little dreamily. "I had a nightmare though. It was terrible."

"Why do you still want me, when even your subconscious tells you I'll just leave you cold and alone and in pain?" Draco asked her, confused.

"Because I love you Draco. We're meant to be together," she said simply, smiling up at him as the memories of her nightmare began to slip away.

"Well I don't love you," Draco said, standing abruptly. "I never have, and if you try to force me to, you know how this ends. I won't come around you anymore. I trust that you'll leave me alone as well." Turning on his heel, he strode out of the room, not letting Pansy or Blaise see the tears that threatened to betray him by falling.

He hurried back to the Head dormitories, where the sphinx seemed to take pity on him and gave him a simple riddle:

_Large as a mountain, small as a pea,  
Endlessly swimming in a waterless sea._

He choked out his answer, ("Asteroids"), and hurried in the room. He'd barely made it in the door before the dam broke, and he could no longer control himself. The tears just came, and kept coming, clouding his vision, burning his cheeks. He stumbled to the nearest furniture, which was the black leather couch, and fell on it, curling himself into a ball and sobbing until his body could take it no longer, and he fell asleep.

Hermione entered the common room from her bedroom a few minutes later, having heard Draco's sobs. She was afraid to come down and investigate while they were going on, but now that it was silent, she crept into the room to check on him.

She found her dorm mate curled up in the fetal position on the big black leather couch. He seemed to have fallen asleep, and Hermione took pity on him. She grabbed a soft tan blanket from the cabinet, and brought it to cover him, draping it over his prone form softly.

She looked down to his face, and saw it covered in tears. Somehow, this horrible, selfish man had made her feel bad for him. She looked around for a tissue, but couldn't find anything, so she took his face carefully in her hands.

She almost recoiled from the softness of his skin, as it took her by surprise. Trying to focus on the task at hand, she carefully ran her thumbs across under his eyes, rubbing his cheeks dry from the tears that were left behind in his grief.

She held his face in her hands for just a moment more, her thumbs running absently over his cheeks. He looked almost angelic like this, a completely different person than the enemy that she had face for six years. She felt a little hypnotized by his skin, and his sweet face, and was just about to let go, when his eyes opened.

Red and bloodshot and full of pain, his eyes met hers. But for once, there was no enmity there. They held each others' gaze for a moment, before he moved. Time seemed to move in slow motion, as he lifted his face mere inches, to where their lips met. His lips were soft and delicate against her own, and Hermione felt herself frozen in time, not thinking about who this was, not thinking about the reality that would keep this from happening, just enjoying the feel of his soft lips against hers. Losing herself in the moment, she pushed back against him almost imperceptibly, granting him permission to kiss her.

She parted her lips slightly, catching his bottom lip between hers, and his tongue flicked out to meet her parted lips, begging entrance. They deepened the kiss for a moment, before Hermione remembered herself, and remembered who was lying in front of her. She delicately pulled away from him, and looked down into his pained eyes. He seemed to be asking her, begging for more. She shook her head slightly and stood to go back to her room.

Another errant tear slipped down Draco's cheek as he felt the pang of denial. He didn't know why he had kissed her, but it had felt so right, so good. Now he would never have that feeling again. As he slipped back into his dreamless sleep, he remembered her touch, and smiled.


	41. Owning Up

Chapter 40

Hermione wanted to lock herself in her bedroom and never come out after what had happened in the common room the previous night. She almost succeeded too, and spent most of the weekend away from everyone. But when Sunday evening rolled around, she had seriously depleted her snack supplies, and had to go to the Great Hall for a real meal. She sat at the table across from Ron and Harry, facing the Slytherin table. She wanted to make sure she was in control of the situation with Malfoy, not let him get one over on her. After all, if anyone could make a big deal out of a kiss and spin it to his advantage, it was Malfoy.

Harry and Ron seemed a little too chipper, and spent the meal discussing their first Quidditch match of the year, which had been against Hufflepuff. Apparently they were better than previous years, but still an easy team to beat. Hermione couldn't care less about Quidditch, but appreciated the opportunity to space out and stare across the room at Draco Malfoy.

She was brought back to the present by the words 'hospital wing.'

Harry was trying to get Ron to tell her what happened, but Ron was refusing. Hermione's arm hair stood up a little as she anticipated Ron's outburst.

"I heard everything," she blurted out. Ron and Harry stared at her blankly until she went on, saying, "I was coming up to check on you guys, and I heard everything. I know I'll be in trouble if we don't tell what really happened, but I don't want Ron to get in trouble either. On the other hand, if I don't tell them something, then Madam Pomfrey won't treat you, and this could be really serious. I'll see if I can get in to see Dumbledore tonight or tomorrow. He'll know what to do."

Harry nodded, and said, "You're right; Dumbledore will know what to do."

Ron just scowled and crossed his arms, then uncrossed them to eat a piece of chicken. Even though he still looked angry, he had seemed to calm down a little, and Hermione knew it was because he trusted her.

Hermione left not long after, and made her way to McGonagall's office. She knew that her head of House would be the only way to get in to see Professor Dumbledore.

Knocking on the door, she was greeted by the familiar face of her favorite professor. She roughly explained the situation to Professor McGonagall, leaving out as many names and details as possible.

"So is there any way I could get an appointment to speak with professor Dumbledore about the matter? I just want to make sure the students involved get the medical care they need and are sufficiently protected as well."

Professor McGonagall peered at Hermione over her glasses for a few long moments, and then nodded, saying, "I'll just call up to him and see if he is free."

She turned to the fireplace behind her and tossed some floo powder in, then called out, "Headmaster's office," and waited a moment, before sticking her head in the flames.

Hermione couldn't hear the conversation, but when professor McGonagall pulled her head out of the fire, she seemed satisfied. She turned to her favorite pupil, and said, "It's all set. He said he's available now if you would like, or you can come before classes in the morning."

Hermione considered this for a moment, and then replied, "Better to get it taken care of now. The student in question is experiencing episodes of severe rage and Madam Pomfrey said we had to be careful, so I want to get this taken care of as soon as possible. Do you know the password?" she asked.

"The password is 'Snicker doodle.'" Professor McGonagall smiled over her glasses, and said, "I'm sure you know the way?"

Hermione smiled back, but it didn't reach her eyes. She was about to admit to stunning a student when he attacked her. This was either going to end badly for Hermione, for Ron, or for them both.

xxx

Hermione arrived at the base of moving stairwell that lead to the headmaster's office. The gargoyle out front seemed to recognize her, but still required the password, which she easily supplied with a small smile. She stepped on the stone stairs and was whisked to the top, where Professor Dumbledore's door was partially open. It seemed he was expecting her, but she still knocked to be polite.

"Come in," called the pleasant voice of the headmaster, and Hermione entered the office, her stomach a little uneasy at the thought of what she had to do.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore," she greeted politely.

"Hello Miss granger, I trust you are well?"

"I'm as well as could be expected," she said with a small smile.

"Please, sit," Dumbledore gestured to the pair of chairs in front of his large desk. He held out a tin of cookies, but Hermione shook her head, refusing. "Well, how can I help you Miss Granger?"

"There was an… er… incident between myself and another student."

"Mr. Weasley, I presume?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione nodded, confused, saying, "How did you know?"

"Poppy advised me I may be hearing from you about something that caused some rageful outbursts n Mr. Weasley. I trust you're here to enlighten me?"

"Yes, sir. But," she looked up at him, and met his piercing blue eyes. "I am afraid," she finished childishly.

"Don't worry Miss Granger; you and Mr. Weasley will be safe. It takes a lot to be suspended from this institution. I trust you'll find we are very… fair with our decisions on punishments."

"Okay, let me just start from the beginning. In the Head Girl dorm, there is a way to access the Gryffindor common room, so I went to see my friends the night before classes began. I invited them up to see where I'd be staying, and they visited for a little while. But after not too long, it was nearing curfew, and they needed to get back to their dorms, so I said my goodbyes. I made a lantern to hang in the stairwell, and when I looked up from doing that, harry and Ginny had left but Ron was still there. I suppose he thought I returned his… er… feelings for me, because he forced himself on me. Not for anything to terrible, just a kiss. But I didn't want to kiss him, and I started to panic, and I couldn't breathe. I tried to push him off but he was too strong for me, and he wouldn't let me go. I just happened to have my wand in hand, so I successfully stunned him nonverbally. I woke him up almost immediately and sent him to his dorm. But the next day or so after the fact, he didn't remember anything had even happened. I know because I confronted him. I told him I had read that stunning spells can have lasting effects like memory loss and that he should see Madam Pomfrey, but she refused to treat him without the whole story. So now I'm here, to turn myself in, I guess." Hermione looked down at her hands, waiting for the bad news.

"Miss Granger," Dumbledore began, looking at Hermione over his half-moon spectacles. "What you did, was of course to be excused. If we cannot defend ourselves, then why are we here? Safety is our first concern, and while I think you may have been able to use a different charm, this was the defensive spell that made the most sense. I trust you did not know of the lingering effects of the spell at point blank range?"

Hermione shook her head vehemently, and Dumbledore nodded and went on. "In addition, it is clear that Mr. Weasley was acting out of some misappropriated affection for you, and while he will serve detention for his conduct, it will not be extensive, especially since there was no magic involved in his advances. He will just have to complete one night's detention, and I will see to it that madam Pomfrey sees him first thing in the morning for a full check up. In fact, perhaps I will place his detention with her, so that she can keep him under observation."

Hermione nodded, and then thought of another question. "Sir, do you have any idea why the spell affected him in this way?"

Dumbledore stroked his long gray beard for a moment, and then said sagely, "I'm sure madam Pomfrey will have a better explanation, but I can offer this advice. When one is faced with an impossible, desperate situation, they will be able to create magic more powerful than they have ever imagined. Perhaps you simply felt you were in enough danger that it sparked something internal, strengthening your spell. Not to mention the fact that you seem to have mastered nonverbal spells, which is quite impressive."

Hermione felt an unwelcome blush creep up to her ears, and said, "Well, I can't do every spell nonverbally, but I'm working on it."

"I'm sure you'll master it in no time, Miss Granger," he replied, his blue eyes twinkling. "Anything else I could assist you with?"

"No, sir," Hermione said, shaking her head. "Thank you so much for everything."

"Now, off to be I think." Professor Dumbledore shooed her out the door, and she rode down the moving stairs, weighing what had happened in her mind. It seemed fair, and Ron only had to do one night of detention. She only hoped that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't be quite so diligent with restoring Ron's memories, as she bet he would be very embarrassed of what really happened.

Hermione made it back into her common room with five minutes to spare before curfew. Sighing, she tossed her bag on the black leather couch, and sank into it, before remembering the last time she'd been near this very couch. Her mind went back to that moment, the kiss. It had been so different than she would ever have imagined kissing Draco Malfoy to feel. It hadn't seemed forbidden or wrong, but instead it felt right and good and happy. She felt like she was meant to be kissing those lips.

Hermione touched her lips and smiled at the memory. It had been the first time she'd really smiled all day. She wondered what had cause Draco to kiss her. Was he dreaming that he was kissing someone else? And why was he crying? She had never thought of Draco as someone who could cry. She had held him up so long on this sort of pedestal, but instead of him being an aspiration point, he was evil. She held him to such a standard of evil and wrongdoing that she shouldn't be surprised that he turned out to be better than she thought. Hermione felt almost ashamed, since she normally gave everyone the benefit of the doubt, and saw the best in them. However with Draco, she'd done the opposite. She'd sought the worst, and of course she'd found it. What was she supposed to do now though? Now that she'd found something good about him to cling to?

A door opened behind Hermione and she turned to see Draco coming out of his room. Their eyes met for a moment, and Draco reacted in the usual way – by running back up to his room. However, for once, the look on his face before he ran off wasn't disgust or loathing… Hermione tried to place the emotion that looked so foreign in his face. Then she realized, it was something like fear; either fear or embarrassment.

Hermione tried to understand him, but she doubted he'd let her in, so she just went up to her room and prepared herself to face the coming week.


	42. Hogsmeade

Chapter 41

The next few weeks flew by quickly for everyone at Hogwarts. The first Hogsmeade visit had to be canceled due to gale force winds and rain, which meant it was nearly two months into school and the two strangers who met in the Hogwarts chat room had still yet to meet in person. It was driving Hermione insane. She had learned so much about this JaketheSnake character, but she hadn't seen his face. She felt like she connected with him on such a deep level, and honestly, she had a little bit of a crush on him. It was surprising for her to feel that was about someone she hadn't actually met yet, but at the same time, she was happy that her attraction wasn't shallow or based on looks.

Pretty soon it was October 24, which was the date of the final Hogsmeade visit before the masquerade ball on Halloween. Hermione and Ginny reached Hogsmeade and made their way quickly to the dress shop, where they were meeting Luna. When they entered the shop they were immediately struck by the glimmering blinding light of a dress near the fitting rooms, which were located up on a sort of stage in the middle of the room. They squinted at the many sequins and mirrors that made up the bodice and skirt of the dress, and were so blinded it by it that they almost didn't noticed who was wearing it.

"Hi guys!" Luna grinned from the small stage like area. Of course Luna would be the one trying on such a flamboyantly unique dress.

Hermione and Ginny waved back, laughing.

"Is this a little too much?" Luna asked in her soft voice.

Ginny responded, "Maybe just a little bit."

Luna disappeared back into the dressing room to change, while Hermione and Ginny made their way through the crowded store to the back where the more formal dresses were.

Hermione started going through the rack, but turned to talk to Ginny while she searched. "I'm glad you're both getting to come to the ball. You with Harry and Luna with Neville? Sounds like a perfect matchup."

"Yeah, I'm glad they asked us, otherwise we'd have to miss seeing _you_ get all dressed up!" Ginny laughed as she perused a section made up of mostly blue dresses.

"I guess I should have picked out a mask first, huh?" Hermione mused, fingering the lace on a black sheath dress.

"Well that would be nice, but on the other hand, we can always charm a mask to be the color you want it to be," Ginny said.

"Oh! Of course we can…" Hermione said, mentally kicking herself.

Ginny pulled out a green floor length gown and grinned, saying, "How do you think harry would react to Slytherin green?"

Hermione laughed as well, but said, "To be fair, green is a redhead's best color."

Ginny turned her head this way and that, but then said, "I just think blue or teal would be better than emerald."

"I guess blue would have to be second runner up to green in the colors redheads should wear, so I say go for it."

A few minutes later, Ginny Hermione and Luna each had an armful of dresses to try on. Luckily there were three stalls in the dressing room, so they each tried on a dress, came out and compared it to the other two.

Hermione narrowed it down between a simple silver dress that fell straight down to the floor with pearl straps across the back, and a purple gown that was truly a ball gown, complete with corset and black lace edging. She decided on the purple, saying that she would only get to feel like a princess one more time at Hogwarts. Ginny decided on a teal dress with a sweetheart neckline that hugged her curves and finished in a ruffle just below her knees. Luna chose a mermaid style gown that had a pink bodice fading into a green skirt, which made her look very much like a flower.

All in all, the girls felt they had the perfect dress, and once their dresses were paid for and packaged in garment bags, Hermione put them in her purse, which she had altered with an undetectable extension charm. They then went to the vintage shop to try to find masks.

If push came to shove, Hermione knew she could manufacture a mask magically, but she really wanted something she could hold onto forever to remember the night. She didn't know why she was getting so worked up over this night. It wasn't as though she had a real date, but Jake had promised to meet her at the ball. She was holding out for him, and had turned down a few invites from Cormac McLaggen, Colin Creevey and even Blaise Zabini, who she was pretty sure only asked her on a dare.

After almost 20 minutes of searching, Hermione found what she needed. She found a mask that had a beak and was surrounded by peacock feathers. She could tell from the quality that it would stand up to the charms she'd need to make it match her dress and to freshen up the feathers. She also found a pair of lace gloves that stopped at her wrists with a black ribbon tied in a bow. She decided these were perfect for her outfit, and bought them for just a few knuts.

Ginny didn't find anything she liked, but decided to transfigure one, and Luna had a mask of some strange and mysterious origin that she said she'd wear. She said it was from a fairy queen or something odd like that.

The girls had spent most of the morning shopping, so they went to the Three Broomsticks to meet Harry Ron and Neville for lunch. They went in the tavern and found that it was quite crowded already. Luckily, the boys waved at the girls from a table in the back corner of the room. They made their way through the crowded room, Hermione taking up the rear. Hermione had almost made it to the table when she tripped over something or someone. Looking up from her ungraceful place on the floor, she saw a flash of blonde hair.

_Of course it would be you_, she thought, as she scrambled to get up. The last few weeks had been very tense between the two of them. They both fought so hard to act like nothing had changed, but there was something magnetic whenever they were together. It was almost uncontrollable, but they both pushed away constantly. Even if Hermione wanted to broach the subject of the night she'd wiped his tears, Draco would never let her.

Hermione was trying to get to her feet, when a hand was thrust toward her from above. She took it gratefully, before realizing it was as she feared – the hand was Draco's. His hand was almost as soft as his face. She could feel some callouses from playing Quidditch, but otherwise, it was quite pleasant to hold. She could almost imagine that soft hand touching her face, running down her side to hold her close…

Hermione snapped herself out of her day dream, and she realized she'd been holding Draco's hand a moment too long. No one else seemed to have noticed, as seeing a girl fall on her face was pretty commonplace compared to all the gossip about the upcoming ball. Hermione pulled her hand away, but she almost felt like he held on just a little bit, not letting her hand leave his.

"Can't stay away, can you Granger?" Draco muttered, in a voice that only Hermione could hear, a voice that stirred something deep within her. But by the time she thought of a way to respond, he had turned on his heel and left the tavern completely.

Hermione took her seat at the table with her friends, just a little bit dazed from the contact.

Harry smiled at Hermione an asked, "You okay, Mione?"

Ron interrupted her response before it began, saying, "Did Malfoy hurt you? I'll kill him…"

"I'm fine Harry, and Ron, you won't be killing anyone, least of all Draco. Madam Pomfrey said that you need to control these emotions to limit your episodes."

Ron rolled his eyes, and then started as he picked up on something, "Oh, so it's _Draco_ now. I see. Getting cozy with the enemy?"

Hermione laughed in Ron's face a little harshly, and then said, "You wish Ron. You just want someone to blame for the fact that I don't love you in the way you do me. Honestly Ron, one minute you'll kill him for hurting me, the next you've got me paired off with him? You need more therapy."

Luna looked at Hermione strangely, and said, "Are you okay? You seem to be lashing out as well. That was a little bit harsh for you."

"I'm fine!" Hermione said exasperatedly, "Will everyone stop asking me if I'm okay?" Standing, she grabbed her purse and pushed out her chair. "I have homework anyway. I'll just eat at the castle." Without waiting for a response, she stormed out of the tavern, and made her way back towards Hogwarts.

xxx

It had been a long and tedious few weeks for Draco. After what happened with Pansy, for the longest time, he blamed himself. He knew he just felt guilty that he was her worst nightmare, but if he hadn't tried to exact some stupid revenge plot, then he wouldn't have to live with that knowledge. The problem was, if Pansy, who seemed to care about him a lot, was so afraid of him, how many other lives had he ruined? How many people did he instill fear into?

He had spent his whole life afraid that he would grow up to be like his father, and this moment was a wakeup call for him. He _was_ turning into his father. Living this way wasn't good for him, and if Pansy was any indication, it wasn't any good for his peers.

Then, after he lost it over Pansy, he had woken up to her. She was touching his face, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs, wiping away his tears. Through his hazy vision, painful from all the tears he had recently cried, she had looked like an angel, backlight and beautiful. He couldn't help but kiss her, even though he knew who she was. He knew she was his enemy. He just didn't have it in him to hate her anymore, and after all these years, he realized that hate, that bigotry that he'd bottled up, all of these things were just covering up his true feelings. All this hatred kept him from loving her, but part of him had loved her all along.

There was no way he would be able to tell her though. She'd hated him back for far too long, and he had fed into those feelings with his bigoted beliefs. He knew he had no chance, so he avoided her. It was easy to do, just sit far away in class, well he still had her as a partner in potions which was inconvenient, but other classes worked out fine. He also would go in and change the rounds schedule whenever he was assigned to go with her. He just didn't want to be caught alone with her. It would be too tempting. He could see the looks she gave him. They were hard to read, but he knew she was watching. He assumed they must have been confusion, calculating him and trying to understand. Or maybe it was simply hatred after all these years.

Draco also had to deal with the Weasel being in his Hospital Wing all the time. It seemed he was getting therapy to deal with his episodic rage, and madam Pomfrey had let Draco know he was one of Weaslebee's "triggers." So now Draco couldn't work in the hospital wing if Ron was having therapy, about to come to therapy or just leaving therapy. It was exhausting trying to deal with the Weasel's schedule as well as his own.

Because of all this stress, Draco was happy to get to Hogsmeade finally. He needed to pick up some things before the ball, and was going to make a day of it. First he went to the robe shop to pick out dress robes for the event. He was on the early end of things, and no one was really in there to shop yet. He decided to go with an old world style. He chose a cape of black silk with silver clasps, along with a matching set of slacks. For the shirt, he wasn't sure what color his online-and-now-journal-friend would be wearing, so he chose one of the dye-your-own shirts cut in a style resembling a poet shirt. It was loose yet form fitting and fit the style of the cape. He decided once he combined these with a pair of dress shoes that it would be perfect for the masquerade ball. All he needed was a mask.

Draco decided to forego the mask hunt for now, and went to the Three Broomsticks for a drink. He settled in at the bar seeing that most of the tables were filled. He enjoyed a few shots of firewhiskey washed down with some butterbeers, and as he sat, he pondered how different liquor was in the wizarding world than the muggle world. In the muggle world, drinking was a commonplace, more accepted time killer, yet they had more restrictions. In the wizarding world, there were very few restrictions on drinking and yet less people did it, which was probably why they had very liquors that were specific to the wizarding world. No one had ever really bothered to create more magical brews beyond firewhiskey. _That may also have a reverse correlation_, he thought, as he paid his tab and started to get up. He turned to face the door as a girl tripped over his foot and fell.

As she fell his instinct was to try to catch her, but the firewhiskey was not going to let him move that quickly. He stood back up from his attempt, feeling a little woozy and looked down at the girl on the floor.

_Of course it would be you_, he thought to himself. _So much for avoiding you, Hermione._

He regretted being unable to stop her fall, but he could at least offer her a hand up. He extended his hand to her and she stared at it for a moment, as if it would bite. He considered pulling back, but knew that it would be more chivalrous if he helped her up, so instead he waited.

After a moment's hesitation, she took his hand, and he immediately felt a shock run through his body. A shiver ran across his shoulder blades as he felt her small, soft hand in his own. Her hands weren't like his. His hands were calloused from Quidditch and his fingers were long and bony. Her hands were soft and smooth and her fingers were short, but had extra tissue in the pads it seemed, making her fingers seem warm and inviting. He recalled the memory of her hands on his face, and he had every inclination to get her to that point again, but he knew it would never happen in such a public place. He imagined it would never happen again if she could help it.

He realized he'd been holding her hand too long when she began to pull it away. He released it, but not quickly enough.

"Can't stay away, can you Granger?" Draco muttered, almost out of instinct more than anything. He immediately hoped she hadn't heard him, but from her sharp intake of breath and the way her posture shifted ever so slightly, he knew she had. More importantly, he could tell from that moment that what he had said had affected her. Maybe she didn't hate him as much as he thought she did.

He left then, and went up to the castle, deciding he'd rather transfigure a mask for himself. He knew exactly what he wanted and it wouldn't be easy to find.

**A/N: Hope this massive update today makes up for nothing since Monday! Hopefully I can get another chapter out tonight! We're in the home stretch, so the more reviews I get, the more often I'll update!**


	43. Conflict and Conflicting Feelings

**Chapter 42**

_Hey!_

_**Hey, how are you?**_

_Great, I went into Hogsmeade today and picked out a dress!_

_**Good, I'm glad. What color did you get?**_

_Purple_

_**Please tell me you didn't get lavender…**_

_No, like a dark purple. Think royalty… or African violets… something like that._

_**Like plum?**_

_Yes! Exactly!_

_**Well then as your date, I will do my best to make sure we match.**_

_I can't believe we're going to the masquerade ball even though we've never met in person._

_**Well, I have my ideas about who you are.**_

_Really? Tell me!_

_**No way. If I'm wrong, you'd totally flip out.**_

_I promise I won't!_

_**No. I don't want to ruin the surprise when I finally meet you. I'm sure you will look beautiful in your violet dress.**_

_Oh hush, you're making me blush_

_**You're a poet!**_

_I'm closing the journal now._

_**You wouldn't dare! You need my stunning conversational skills to get you through the day!**_

_No, but really, I have to go meet some friends. I'll talk to you later though._

_**Night!**_

Hermione closed the journal and slid it back under her pillow. She felt bad for lying to him, but she wasn't about to tell him that she as on her way to meet Draco Malfoy to finish up the invitations for the ball. She didn't know why they had to do them anyway, since the whole school knew about the ball and had already prepared for it.

She supposed it was just tradition. She rapped on Draco's door and waited impatiently.

Draco pushed the door to his dorm open, saw Hermione, and tried to shut it back.

Hermione pushed her foot between the door and the doorjamb effectively keeping it open.

"Come on, Draco," she said in her most persuasive voice. "All we have to do is tie 85 ribbons and the invitations will be ready to go out tomorrow."

"Isn't that what magic's for?" Draco whined pushing at her foot with his, trying to make her relinquish her hold on the door.

"Exactly!" Hermione said with a smile. "And since you're the one that came up with that copying charm from who knows where, I decided I could use your help. Even with the magic, we'll have to do one ribbon at a time."

Draco groaned and stopped trying to pull the door shut. He walked resignedly to the table where they had been slaving over invitations for the past two weeks. It was bad enough doing this when they hated each other, but after what had happened that morning in Hogsmeade, Draco didn't know how to treat her.

Draco took some spare ribbon and tried to work out the most beautiful bow charm, while Hermione tried tying some by hand.

They lined up the few invitations they'd tried it on, and Draco pointed out his favorite. Hermione agreed, until they realized the most beautiful knot had been the hand-tied one.

"Why don't we go with our second favorite?" Draco offered, holding up one he had tied by magic.

"Well," Hermione said thoughtfully, "What charm did you use?"

"_Conligo_," Draco replied.

"That's too heavy of a spell. It's for tying things down. Why don't you try…" she untied one of the invitations they'd been practicing on, and held her wand to the ribbon, saying, "_Revinicio_" The ribbon tied itself into a neat bow, which was almost as pretty as Hermione's hand-tied one.

Draco put his hands up, saying, "Okay, I give up! I bow to the brains and beauty of Hermione Granger. You've outdone me once again."

Hermione could tell from his teasing smile that he wasn't serious, but his comment about beauty still made her blush. Why was she blushing? She didn't want to blush! She just wanted to get through these invitations, then get through the week, then celebrate Halloween with her mystery man.

Hermione focused on the task at hand, and Draco tried to do the same. An hour and a half later they were done, and Hermione asked Draco to take the invitations up to the owlery.

He agreed, but only because it was after curfew, and he like having a reason to be out that late.

By the time he returned, Hermione had fallen asleep at the table, cheek resting on the glossary of her Arithmancy homework.

Draco couldn't help himself. He found himself wandering over to where she was sleeping. He pulled a strand of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear, reveling in how soft it was to the touch. She looked so beautiful when she was sleeping. All that fire and determination melted away to reveal a little girl, sleeping peacefully; a little girl with no worries about monsters under the bed, or things that go bump in the night, just sweet dreams.

Draco shook himself out of his trance. He had no idea how long he'd been watching her sleep. He knew he couldn't stand there any longer, so he grabbed the tan blanket she had draped over him that day and wrapped it around her shoulders. Hopefully that would keep her warm while he went to his room to sleep.

xxx

The next morning, Hermione woke up in the common room, asleep on her book with a roaring pain in her neck. She sat up and tried to stretch it, but to no avail. Her neck was thoroughly messed up. She was not looking forward to being sore all day when she needed to be studying for the week. She decided to grab breakfast, and if her neck still was aching afterwards, she would go to the Hospital Wing for a potion.

Hermione took her usual seat across from Harry and Ron and next to Ginny. She caught up with her friends, apologized for her behavior in Hogsmeade, and they all had a nice breakfast. Well, it would have been nice for Hermione, except someone across the room kept getting her attention. Every once in a while she would look up from her toast with jam and a pair of grey eyes would be staring. She didn't want to look directly at him, for fear that it would elicit some emotional response in him, or worse, her. Instead she just put up with the annoying feeling of being watched. Although, it didn't seem so annoying when she thought about that kiss they had shared.

Hermione finished her breakfast and headed up toward the Hospital Wing, noticing that Draco had thankfully already left the Great Hall. She rubbed her neck with her right hand as she made her way to the sixth floor, hoping it would be something a simple potion would help.

Hermione knocked on the door to madam Pomfrey's office, not seeing her anywhere. The door opened with a creak, and there in front of her stood Draco Malfoy.

"Oh, um, sorry," Hermione stammered, "I was trying to find Madam Pomfrey."

"She's down at breakfast. Maybe I can help you," he replied, seeming genuine.

"Oh, um, no it's ok," Hermione said. Mentally she was kicking herself for sounding so brain damaged, but she was just floored. What was Malfoy even doing there?

"I'm serious. I'm interning here. I can help you. What's wrong?" Malfoy held her gaze, clearly expecting an answer from her.

"It's my – my neck," she said quietly. She lifted and arm to rub the soreness out, but it wasn't helping. "I slept badly last night and I was hoping Madam Pomfrey would have a potion that would help."

Draco tried to look serious, but there was laughter dancing in his stormy grey eyes. Hermione guessed he must have seen her sleeping there.

"Well?" she said impatiently, tapping her foot pointedly.

"Okay, keep your hair on," Draco said, turning to the cart of potions behind him. He looked through them, and then picked up a pink solution that was very bubbly. He turned back to Hermione. "Here," he said, handing her the flask. "Pepper up Potion."

"Isn't that supposed to cure the common cold?" Hermione asked dubiously.

"Yes, but it improves blood flow in the body, which I think would help alleviate some of your pain." Draco said, simply.

"I- I don't want stem shooting out of my ears." Hermione said, blushing madly. "I had a cold last year, and I firmly believe the solution is worse than the problem."

Draco chuckled to himself, and said, "Fine, Bookworm, I have something else." He dragged a chair over in front of him, pointed imperiously to Hermione and said, "Sit."

Hermione plopped down in the chair without thinking. She would do anything at this point to alleviate the pain that was dominating her neck at the moment. The chair was faced away from Draco and the cart of potions, so she didn't see what he was doing, but she heard vials clank in the cart as he looked for something. Even if she wanted to turn and see what he was doing, her neck just hurt too much.

A moment later, the noise stopped, and Hermione smelled a sweet yet grassy scent. It calmed her down immediately.

"Okay," Draco said from right behind her, "Just a little pressure…"

Hermione expected to feel a shot, since that was what every muggle doctor she'd ever been to would say before he poked her. Instead, she felt Draco's hands. He was massaging her neck with some sort of salve. It felt good against her sore neck, but his hands felt better. Unbidden, she began to feel a blush creeping up from her chest to her neck to her cheeks. Why did he have that effect on her? _Maybe because he's massaging me, _Hermione groaned to herself. She was actually enjoying this. She never thought she would enjoy Malfoy touching her.

"What is that?" Hermione asked.

Draco pressed into her neck a little harder when she spoke, as if she had surprised him, but then replied, "Star grass salve. It's good for sore muscles and minor scrapes and bumps."

"Well, it smells heavenly," Hermione sighed as he worked his way down towards her back. 'It's mostly the right side," she said, pointing.

"Here?" he asked, adjusting his hands to the right.

"More over…"Hermione pulled his hand to the right spot, but when her hand made contact with his, it was like she'd been struck by lightning. Somehow this was so much more erotic to her, touching his hand while he touched her neck. _Ugh, why did I just think the word erotic… now I'll never get it out. _Hermione thought.

Whatever the feeling was, Draco must have felt it too, because he stopped massaging her neck. Instead, he placed a finger under her chin, and pulled her head back. The movement made Hermione realize that all the pain had been relieved from her neck.

Pulling her chin back to see her face, Draco leaned down and caught her lips with his own. Almost instantaneously, though, the room exploded with sound as the door flew open and slammed against the wall.

"YOU!" a voice screamed, before a hand ripped him away from Hermione's mouth, dragging him by the hair.

"Ron!" Hermione gasped, jumping up. She blushed out of shame and embarrassment, both of which were solely based on the way Ron was acting.

Ron dragged Draco by his hair and threw him to the ground, where he started trying to beat Draco mercilessly. Luckily Draco was limber and managed to squirm away from his punches a couple times, but the third time, Ron got him dead on the nose. Draco let out a strangled cry, as Ron grabbed him by the throat, and over Ron's shoulder, Hermione could see the blood pouring freely from Draco's nose.

Hermione was completely frozen, watching Ron try to choke out the life of her – _What? Is he my friend? What is he to me? _Breaking out of her thoughts, Hermione grabbed her wand and stunned Ron quickly. _At least this time I was a few paces away,_ she thought with bitter irony.

Ron slumped onto Draco, who gasped for breath. Between being throttled and having 90 kilos of teen angst fall onto his chest. Hermione rushed over and pushed Ron's stunned body off of Draco, just in time for him to take a deep breath, and for Madam Pomfrey to come back in the Hospital Wing.

"What is going on here, Mr. Malfoy?" Madam Pomfrey screeched, her eyes racing back and for the between Ron's prone body, Hermione and Draco on the floor.

"Draco was helping me with a sore neck, he used Star Grass Salve, and then Ron came in and just attacked him. I couldn't think of what to do since I'm not big enough to get between them, so I stunned him. Draco didn't provoke him at all, didn't even fight back." Hermione gasped out the story as quickly as possible, leaving out the kiss. For some reason she really wanted Madam Pomfrey to know that Draco was innocent.

Madam Pomfrey looked between the teens once more, and then snapped out orders. "Draco, go fix your nose. Miss Granger, help me get this one on a bed. I want him to wake up naturally. He'll be calmer that way." She sighed as if all the weight of the world was upon her, and motioned at Hermione to hurry up.

Once they lugged Ron onto the nearest bed, Madam Pomfrey looked at Hermione pointedly, saying, "Shouldn't you be in class now?" Hermione hesitated, and Madam Pomfrey made a shooing motion, hustling her out the door.

Hermione really hoped Draco was alright… but part of her had no idea why she had that hope to begin with.

**A/N: 4 chapters and 9991 words in 8 hours? I'm a proud writer! I guess now that things are nearing the end, I'm just reinvigorated! Thanks for the reviews, to the few of you who have caught me in between writing chapters today. Your support means a lot to me!**


	44. The Aftermath

**Chapter 43**

Hermione made it through Arithmancy without breaking down. Draco came into class late, but thankfully he was no longer bleeding. Hermione tried her hardest not to look back to where he was sitting, but as Professor Vector took time to counsel everyone about their yearly project assignments, her curiosity got the best of her.

Hermione pulled a piece of hair behind her ear and casually glanced over her left shoulder. Her gaze was immediately met by silvery eyes from the back of the room. She tried her best to put on a smile, but she knew it must look strained. Draco held her eyes for a moment, and she felt the telltale blush creeping up her neck.

Looking back at her parchment, Hermione tried to focus on her assignment. She would be working on it all year, so she had to pick a good topic. Sadly, the stress and confusion from the morning got the best of her. She found herself distracted the rest of the class period, and when Professor Vector came to talk to her, she had nothing to share. Class ended soon after, and Hermione hurried out of the classroom, avoiding Draco's prying eyes.

When she got to Potions, Hermione knew she would have to face up to the reality of that morning.

Draco came through the doorway soon after her and sat next to her at their shared cauldron. Hermione tried not to meet his gaze, but a hand on her arm made her look up.

Harry was standing over her shoulder, she met his eyes and he signaled with his head for her to talk to him away from Draco.

"Hey Harry, what's up?" Hermione asked when they were at the back of the room and out of earshot.

"Have you seen Ron?" Harry asked, his striking green eyes full of worry.

"He…" Hermione tried to find the words to explain what had happened that morning. She decided to leave out the bit about her and Draco. "He came to the hospital wing this morning for therapy, saw Draco and flipped out. I had to stun him again, but Madam Pomfrey is taking care of him. Hopefully he'll be okay soon."

"Wait, what?" Harry asked, the worry beginning to be replaced by anger. "Why was Malfoy in the hospital wing to begin with?"

"He's interning with Madam Pomfrey. I don't know why."

"Yeah, well this isn't good. I hope Ron's okay." Harry rubbed a hand up the back of his head, ruffling his hair in the process.

"I'm sure he will be. I just wish he could get over these rages he's been having lately," Hermione said in a reassuring voice.

"If you're done with your intrusion on your fellow students…" came the snarky voice of Professor Snape from the front of the room, "I'll have you take your seats. And that's fifty points from Gryffindor for being disruptive."

Hermione hurried to her seat next to Draco. As she sat she brushed against his knee, and she heard him gasp slightly.

'Sorry…" she muttered, not looking at him.

Hermione tried to focus on what Snape was saying, and after a few minutes' lecture, they were ready to start their assignment. Of course, this _would_ be the day he made them brew a love potion. Snape warned them once again as students began moving to get ingredients about the dangers of the potion.

"The products you create today will be used in our studies over the next few weeks. We will be creating the antidote next week, and then we will test them in a closed classroom experiment. If you screw up today, you will not only fail today's assignment, but the next two weeks' assignments as well." Snape sneered once more at the class, and then moved back to his desk with a swish of his long dark cloak.

Draco placed a hand on her arm tentatively and said, "I'll get the ingredients."

Hermione nodded, trying to ignore the rush of heat the emanated from his touch. She flipped her book to the potion instructions, and skimmed them over. She had made a love potion once before in 6th year, but this potion was more intense than _Amortentia_. According to the book, without the antidote, the potion would last even after death. It reminded Hermione of some lyrics from one of her favorite muggle bands, "_Even in death our love goes on._" Hermione had always hoped to find a love like that. She never knew if she would, our even could.

Draco returned with the ingredients and they began brewing relative silence. There were a few moments when Draco took a breath, and sighed. Hermione got the idea that he wanted to say something, but he kept stopping himself.

"May I have the witch hazel?" Hermione asked, opting for politeness over deference.

"Here," Draco replied, passing it to her. He took another breath, but didn't say any more.

Hermione'd had enough. "Do you have something to say? Or are you going to keep sighing at me?" she snapped, whipping her head to stare at him.

Draco seemed shocked, but smiled slightly, and tipped his head, before saying, "I just wanted to talk about…" he lowered voice, "What happened this morning. And the other night on the couch."

"Look, Malfoy," Hermione said, trying to be strong. "I just want to get through this week, I want to survive these stupid dancing lessons tomorrow, get through our stupid opening dance at the ball, and make sure everything goes as planned. Can this conversation just… wait until after that?"

Draco looked disappointed but considered her request.

Hermione continued, saying, "I know this is all confusing, I just… can't handle this right now. Not this week."

Draco looked up at her and said, "So I'm back to Malfoy?"

Hermione scoffed, and said, "Yeah, that's what you should focus on. Just stir. We can't fail three weeks of work"

Draco stirred the cauldron, and said, "You can have this week. I at least owe you that. But after the dance on Saturday night, you and I are talking, in the common room, no excuses."

Hermione smiled a little bit to herself. She wanted to talk to Draco, and a huge control freak part of her wanted to seriously psychoanalyze the past few days, but she owed it to Jake to see if there was something there before she got involved with Draco. After all, she felt so utterly connected to her mystery man. She had a feeling things could be really good with him. Over the past few weeks he had opened up to her about his thoughts and feelings. She knew she had to see this through before upending her world with a love affair with her sworn enemy.

"So, what's with you and the boy wonder over there?" Draco asked snidely.

Hermione looked at him confusedly, but then saw he was motioning to Harry. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"He won't stop staring at me like I murdered someone," Draco replied.

"Aren't you used to murderous stares from the famous Harry Potter?" Hermione asked, poking fun at him.

"Of course, but this seems different," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "Does he know what happened this morning?" he asked suddenly, betraying his worry with a slight squeak in his voice.

"Don't worry; I kept the explanation to a minimum. All he knows is Ron attacked you," Hermione said, adding the final ingredient to their cauldron.

"I'll try not to feel like the boy wonder is out to kill me, and you stir seventeen times counter clockwise," Draco said, handing her the ladle.

Hermione finished the potion, and then wafted the vapors over towards Draco. "Time to test. What do you smell?" she asked.

Draco sniffed, and smiled, then said, "I'm not telling you that. A man has to have his secrets, you know."

Hermione laughed and ladled the potion into a few vials and marked them with their names.

Draco rolled and empty vial in his fingers, and thought to himself about what he had smelled. Roses, rainwater and ink; he couldn't figure out where he'd smelled those together before.


	45. Ron's Change

**Chapter 44**

After the disaster that had been her day, Hermione got the pleasure of ending it with rounds. _Oh joy,_ she thought bitterly. _Just what I need after the day I've had._

She sat down at dinner next to Ginny, and couldn't help but notice the glaring emptiness of Ron's usual seat.

"Has anyone been up to check on Ron today?" Hermione asked, spooning some rocket onto her plate, and then dressing it with lemon poppy seed dressing.

Harry nodded, chewed his food, and said, "I checked on him after Potions, but he was still passed out. Madam Pomfrey said her exam of him looked good."

Ginny just shook her head and said, "I don't know what's gotten into him lately. This isn't like him. He usually hides in the face of confrontation. Except when he's with you of course, Harry." She blushed a little looking at him and he smiled back, his green eyes twinkling.

Hermione suddenly felt that she was most certainly a third wheel in this situation, so she finished her salad quickly, and excused herself.

"I'm going to check on Ron, I'll let you guys have some time alone," Hermione said as she got up to leave.

Ginny blushed madly, and Harry just nodded, unable to keep the goofy grin off his face. Hermione thought about them as she left the Great Hall. They were so perfect for each other. It was like they were fated to be together. Hermione sometimes wished she had that kind of bond with someone, but the only person she seemed fated to be with was a rabid maniac currently lying in the Hospital Wing whom she bore no romantic feelings for.

She sighed and shook her hair back from her face, and started to go up the stairs, when a small cough caught her attention from behind her. Draco was leaning against the door to their shared dormitory, looking up at her on the stairwell.

"Can I help you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, but with no malice in her voice.

"That depends," he drawled, matching her expression. "Where are you off to in such a hurry? You barely ate anything at dinner."

"Paying attention to my eating habits now, are we?" she asked, trying to keep from blushing.

"Well I wouldn't want you passing out when we have to test our love potions in two weeks. It is three grades, you know," he smirked, knowing he'd called her on her one weakness- her studies.

"Whatever you say, Ma-" his eyebrow twitched and she corrected herself quickly, "-Draco. I'm going to check on the oaf he beat you silly this morning," she said, hoping to hurt his pride at least a little.

"I would put it that way," he said, sounding a little miffed. "And why are you checking on him anyway? I'm the one who was wounded." If Hermione didn't know better, she would say Draco sounded a little hurt that she was checking on Ron when she hadn't asked if he was alright.

"Poor baby," she said laughing, "You know how to heal much better than I do, so I trust you patched yourself up just fine."

"What about you?" he asked. "How's your neck feeling?"

Hermione blushed furiously, unable to prevent the feelings from that morning from rushing back. "Fine," she responded, trying to play it cool. "You did alright I guess. Now I have to go. Try not to get beaten up while I'm gone, since I won't be here to save you."

"Don't worry, my knightess in shining armor, I'll be safe," he said smirking, and turning to go inside.

Hermione finally continued her ascent of the stairs, glad that she managed to get through a conversation with Draco that didn't end with him kissing her. Her stats in that area were not very good as of late.

Hermione made it to the Hospital Wing, but had the sense to knock before entering, though she didn't hear any yelling or furniture being thrown around inside.

Madam Pomfrey came to the door and glared at her, saying, "Back to check on your victim?"

Hermione bristled at the accusation, saying, "No, I'm here to check on my friend, whom I had to subdue because he was quite literally a danger to himself and others."

Madam Pomfrey's glare softened to a wary look, but let her come in. Hermione saw that Ron was still in the same bed they'd left him in, but now he was in a hospital robe and tucked under the white covers.

"He woke up a little after lunch, and now he's just resting. I gave him a calming draught, but when he awakened, he didn't seem to have any noticeable symptoms. I'll have to do some more tests for any neurological changes, but stunning him seems to have shocked his system back into regularity. He's very lucky that this didn't make things worse." Madam Pomfrey gave Hermione another long look over her glasses, then added, "You can sit with him if you'd like."

Hermione nodded her agreement and pulled a chair up to the edge of Ron's bed. She would have to let Harry and Ginny know that Ron was alright, but in the meantime, she just wanted to enjoy sitting with him without him going insane. Sleeping like this he was just her good friend Ron. She feared that when he woke up, Ron wouldn't be as happy to see her as she was to see him.

Hermione took some time to sit in silence, just watching him sleep, but after a while, she decided to hold his hand. She took his thick fingers and calloused palm between her small delicate hands. He was quite cold, and she felt his hand warm to her touch. She sat like this for a few more minutes, before Ron's hand squeezed against hers and he began to stir.

Ron opened his eyes, sitting up slightly, and looked at Hermione. She met his blue eyes with brown ones, nearly on the verge of tears. She didn't know why it affected her so much to see him like this, even after all that he had done.

"Hermione," he whispered, and then coughed slightly. "Water please," he begged, his voice hoarse and dry.

She handed over the glass of water from the table next to his bed, and Ron drank thirstily.

"How do you feel?" she asked, moving to take her hand from his.

He snatched her hand back, and said, "I'm feeling much more like myself now. I've been really out of it the past few weeks. I'm glad you're here though."

"I figured I'd check on you since I'm the one who stunned you today," she said, looking down a little.

"Oh," Ron said dreamily, "Is that what happened? I don't remember much. I think I blacked out whenever I got really mad."

"Well you were plenty mad today, so that makes sense that you don't remember," Hermione said, shrugging. Her hand was starting to get sweaty in his grip. It was not comfortable at all.

"What made me so mad?" Ron asked, still confused.

"You just saw Dr- Malfoy and grabbed him by the hair and dragged him to the ground and tried to beat him senseless," Hermione said, the images flashing before her as she described it. She grimaced.

Ron seemed to sense her discomfort, and put her hand between both of his. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that. You should know I'd never hurt you," he said, pulling her hand to his lips.

Hermione had had enough! She yanked her hand away from his and stood up, saying, "Don't you realize, your improper advances are what started all of this in the first place! You forced yourself on me, and the only way I could get away from you was to stun you. Now you're kissing my hand and making me promises? I'm not with you, Ronald! I will never be with you. Your little crush has held me back from having any meaningful relationships, because I've always been worried about how you would react if you saw me with someone.

But no more, Ronald. I won't let you hold me back. I will see who I want, when I want, and it won't be you. Just because you've just realized I'm a girl, doesn't mean everyone else has been in the dark as well. I'll always be your friend, Ron, but only because Harry needs both of us. But this nonsense has to stop. I'm done."

Hermione stalked across the hospital Wing floor and out the door, running smack dab into Draco Malfoy. She collided with him and was thrown back onto the floor on her butt. He smirked down at her and she grabbed at her too-small skirt, certain he could see up it.

"Have some manners, Malfoy!" she growled, still riled up from the lecture she'd given Ron.

"Hey, sorry, I'm just impressed," Draco said, holding his hands up innocently. "I heard what you said to Weasley," he added, giving her a hand up. "That was pretty intense, are you okay?"

"Like you care," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. She went back to her common room without a single look in Draco's direction. Draco simply stood there, jaw hanging, wondering what in the world he'd done wrong.


	46. Girls and Gossip

**Chapter 45**

_**Hey, you there?**_

_Hey! How are you?_

_**I'm pretty good. So tonight's the big night, are you excited to meet me?**_

_Yes, I have to say it has been the one thing getting me through this terrible week._

_**I'm sorry! Maybe tonight will make it worth getting through the week at least. **_

_Yeah, it's just been really stressful. It will be nice to celebrate our final year here. I normally am very excited about classes, but the workload is just so heavy this year, I'm about ready to be done with it! _

_**I know the feeling. My classes have been rough lately. So, still wearing purple to the ball?**_

_Yes, what are you wearing?_

_**I'll hopefully be matching you, and I'll bring a white gardenia to pin to your dress (which I'm sure is beautiful)**_

_Aww! You're so sweet! Giving up all your secrets already?_

_**I have other secrets… like the fact that I think I've guessed your identity.**_

_Oh please, sir, enlighten me…_

_**No. You said you wanted to be surprised, and if I tell you and I'm right, you may figure out that you know me.**_

_That's true… I am great at deductive reasoning. For some reason, I just can't place the "you" I have in my head with any other students I've met at Hogwarts._

_**Well, it's lunch time. I'm going to grab a bite, and I'm sure you need to start plucking or whatever girls do to get ready.**_

_Wow. Just wow. I'll see you tonight. Meet you after the first dance?_

_**I'll see you on the dance floor, my mystery girl.**_

Hermione took a moment to squeal with delight. She couldn't wait to meet him, no matter who he was. She just had to get through the first dance with Draco and she'd be free to mingle and find her mystery man. She hurried down to lunch, where she sat next to Ginny. Luna surprised them by coming to sit at their table.

"Hey Luna!" Hermione said, grinning. "Are you two as excited for tonight as I am?"

"I'm pretty excited, but it's not my final year at Hogwarts so I'm sure it'll be more exciting next year," Luna said fairly. "Why don't I read your tea leaves? Maybe we can get an idea of what your mystery man will look like?"

Luna offered her Divination skills all the time, but Hermione never took her up on the offer.

"Last time I dealt with tea leaves was in the terrible woman's class. I think I'll pass," Hermione scoffed.

"Well how about a card reading then?" suggested Ginny. "It's simple and you don't have to choke any tea leaves down in the process. Luna read my cards right before Harry asked me to the dance. It was very enlightening!"

Luna looked at her with puppy dog eyes, and Hermione knew she couldn't refuse. She may not believe in any of this stuff, but that didn't mean she should deny her friends the fun of it.

"Fine, fine," she consented. "But only on one condition."

"What?" chorused Ginny and Luna.

"We get ready in my dorm room for tonight. I have a huge bathroom that I only have to share with one person, unlike your dorms, which will doubtless be overflowing."

"Yes!" Ginny yelped, clapping her hands. They got a few stares, but Ginny was notorious for her mood swings, so most of the classmates were just glad that she wasn't angry. No one liked her when she was angry.

"Okay, it's all set then. Bring your dresses and makeup over after lunch. If you still insist on a reading, we can do it there," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

xxx

After lunch, around 1, the girls assembled in Hermione's dorm room. Luna had to meet her at the front door, but Ginny just came up through the stairwell that connected Hermione's room to the common room.

Ginny dropped her things in Hermione's room and came down to the common area. Luna just set her things at the end of one long couch, and the girls sat on the other couch.

"So, can I tell you girls a secret?" Hermione said cautiously.

"Of course, 'Mione, what's up?" Ginny asked. Hermione had told them about her outburst at Ron, but the kisses she shared with Draco had remained a secret. Now Hermione's fear that Draco would accidentally hint at something while they were there was too great to keep it from them.

"It's a secret. Like the biggest secret. You can't tell anyone, least of all Ron or Harry," Hermione said with utter seriousness.

The other girls nodded, and once Hermione was sure that they were serious, she began.

"Draco Malfoy kissed me," she said quietly, waiting for the furious responses she was bound to get.

Ginny seemed flustered, but Luna just smiled serenely. "Where?" Ginny sputtered.

"On this couch," Hermione said, an apologetic look in her eyes.

Ginny leapt up at the thought, but Luna just giggled.

"What?" Ginny asked, then with renewed interest, she sat down quickly, grabbed Hermione's hand and said, "Spill it. Now. Every single detail."

"I came in one night a few weeks ago, and Draco was sleeping on the couch. He hadn't been completely terrible to me lately, so I felt bad. I brought him a blanket, but when I put it over him, I saw that he'd been crying. His face was seriously just soaked with tears. I felt so bad for him, and I couldn't find any tissues or anything, so I wiped the tears off of his face."

Ginny stared at Hermione oddly, and Hermione continued, "He just looked so innocent, and his face was so soft… Anyway, I guess I touched him too long, because he woke up. Well, his eyes opened, I don't know if he really woke up, he just opened his eyes, looked at me and kissed me. It was… lovely."

"But then, of course, I freaked out and ran. I didn't even think he remembered it had happened."

"Until?" Luna prompted.

"What?" Hermione asked, not sure what she was prompting.

"You said you didn't think he remembered, meaning now you think he does. What else happened?" Luna asked, smiling encouragingly.

"Until Monday, I guess. I went to the hospital wing because my neck hurt, but madam Pomfrey wasn't there. I didn't know it but apparently she has people intern there, and Draco was working while she was at breakfast. He…" she looked between her two friends to make sure they could handle it, but they were both practically drooling, their faces begging for details. It even looked like Ginny had gotten over who this story was about.

"He used a salve, which worked. Oh boy did it work… he had to – er – massage it in."

This time it was Ginny who squealed with delight, nodding for her to go on.

"And I reached up to show him where it hurt, and we touched and it was… it was like magic, or a spark or a heat or something. I don't know what it was about that little touch, but he pulled my head up by the chin and kissed me, yet again."

"Was the second kiss as good as the first?" asked Luna.

"You didn't run from this one did you?" asked Ginny.

"Well right after our lips touched, Ron came in for his counseling."

Ginny and Luna gasped in unison, like good audience members.

"That's why he spent yesterday in the Hospital Wing. He attacked Draco and I stunned him. Again," Hermione shook her head, remembering the incident.

"Again?" asked Luna, nonplussed.

"Oh, Ron tried to force himself on her, and she had to stun him at really close range. We're talking wand against the body here. That's why he's been so crazy lately. Residual spell effects," explained Ginny, concisely.

"The good news is, Ron doesn't remember why he went off on Draco, and seems to be back to normal temper-wise," Hermione went on. "The bad thing is… I think I'm falling for Jake."

"Jake?" asked Luna.

"The guy she met online. They've had a two way journal romance since school started. He's a Slytherin," Ginny explained yet again.

"Odd," Luna remarked to herself.

"What's odd?" asked Hermione.

"I keep an eye on all my friends'… let's say well-being. But when I do readings for you, I never see the second man. Have you met him?" asked Luna.

"No," Hermione said, shaking her head. "But not for lack of trying, we've had two missed dates already."

"Hmm…" Luna pondered aloud, "Maybe that's why I can't see him. I'm sorry I can't be any help in giving you a heads up on who he is."

"Don't worry about it," Hermione said, waving a hand in the air. "I don't really believe in all that anyway."

"Say what you will, Luna's predictions have always helped me," said Ginny with a smile. "So," she continued, "Do you like Malfoy?"

Hermione pondered the question for a moment, studying her fingernails. "I don't know. I am attracted to him, and I feel like he's different now than he used to be. I don't know how different that really is, though. And I want to give this thing with Jake a real try. I just click with him on so many levels. He may be a Slytherin, but I know he's not evil like Draco is, or was."

Ginny looked at her watch and realized they'd been talking for an hour already. "Oh goodness, we gotta start getting ready!"

Hermione stared at her for a moment. "Seriously? It cann_ot_ take almost 6 hours to get ready."

Ginny and Luna laughed in her face, then calmed down when they realized she was serious.

"Oh honey, you have so much to learn," tutted Ginny.

Luna giggled and grabbed Hermione's arm and they went up to her room.

First were the manicures and pedicures which took a lot longer than Hermione had imagined. They used magic, but there were so many steps: wash, dry, trim, push cuticles, buff, prime, coat 1, coat 2, top coat, and glitter. Hermione opted for a plum color with a black glitter French manicure style tip. Luna had her nails fade from fuchsia on one pinky to green on the other. In between were shades of varying colors that matched her dress's fading design perfectly. Ginny lengthened her fingernails, which she normally kept short for Quidditch, and charmed them to be the perfect shade of teal to match her dress with an even coating of silver glitter on top.

Next, Ginny and Luna each showered, and Hermione was happy with their awe of her beautiful bathroom. Hermione opted for a bath, giving the other girls time to handle their own hair before dealing with hers. She chose the same soothing concoction of bubbles she had the last time she took a bath, and before long the bathroom smelled of roses and rainwater. Hermione couldn't lounge forever, though and cut her bath short to get ready. Wrapping a towel around her body, she took another towel to her head and started drying her hair.

Hermione heard Ginny and Luna squabbling over the mirror in her room, so she undid the locking charm on the bathroom, and yelled, "You can come use the mirror in here!"

Ginny came in to use the mirror on Hermione's side of the sink while Luna stayed in the bedroom. A moment later, the other door to the bathroom opened, and Draco Malfoy stepped inside.

He was in a state of undress that rather than being hilarious like last time, was strangely arousing to Hermione. He was wearing black dress pants that looked as soft as silk. Other than that, he was naked, much more naked than Hermione had ever seen him. His skin was an alabaster shade of pale, and it looked as pristine as fine china. His chest muscles rippled under the skin, and his abs showed the work he'd done in countless Quidditch practices and matches. Even his bare feet seemed sexy to Hermione. She looked up to his tousled hair, and realized he had a slightly amused look on his face.

"Sorry to barge in," he said with a smirk.

"No, not at all," Hermione said, trying for all the world not to look like she'd been checking him out.

"Um, Hermione?" Ginny prompted, bringing Hermione out of her daze. It was at that moment she realized she was wearing just a pair of towels. _Crap._ Hermione's subconscious was berating her, but in her shock she almost lost her grip on the towel.

Trying to stay calm she said, "Nice seeing you," before rushing into her room and shutting the door, leaving Ginny and Draco together.

"Nice indeed," Draco muttered, and turned to the mirror. He ran a hand through his hair, still wet from the shower he'd taken after Quidditch practice in the locker room. He pulled out his wand to do a drying spell and Ginny almost imperceptibly flinched.

He looked over at her where she was wrapping locks of hair around her own wand, curling them into ringlets. "Something wrong?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." Ginny said unconvincingly. "Yes. Leave Hermione alone tonight."

"What?" Draco asked, all joking leaving his voice.

"She-she has a date. I know you're messing around with her head, or whatever you're doing, but don't ruin this night for her," Ginny finished, any fear she had turning to anger by the end of her declaration.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Draco replied coldly. "I happen to be meeting a lady as well. Do try to keep your nose out of other people's business though, Weaselette. Overprotective is not an attractive look on you." Tousling his hair one more time, he put a holding charm on it and left the bathroom.

Ginny stood there gaping at him for a moment, before realizing she'd almost set her hair on fire. She stormed back into Hermione's room, livid.

"That prat!" she yelled, throwing her wand to the floor were sparks issued from the tip. Luna jumped as a spark hit her ankle, but stayed calm and went back to braiding her hair.

"It's okay Ginny; he gets the best of everyone. Just forget about it," Hermione advised. "Now, what can you do to my hair?"

xxx

A few hours later, the girls were primped, pampered and ready to dance. Ginny had pinned her ringlets back, away from her face into a complicated up do that was part up and part down. Her teal dress matched her nail design perfectly, and she had some simply silver jewelry with rhinestones on her neck and ears. Her mask was silver with a teal plume extending from the side.

Luna looked very much like a mermaid or a flower in an exotic garden. Her hair was a myriad of braid in different styles tangled into a complicated knot at the back of her head. Her jewelry was classic Luna. She had strung up some flowers from the garden outside the library, held with a stasis charm to keep them fresh. Hanging from her ears were her favorite radish earrings, which strangely looked perfect with this dress. The final piece for Luna was her mask, which was bright fuchsia with gold glitter trim. The gold glitter also accented around the eyes of the mask which were cut into an almond cat's eye shape. Hermione still didn't believe the mask belonged to a fairy queen, but it stayed on without a stick or ribbons, so it was quite interesting.

Hermione had spent some time getting her mask ready for the ball. She had opted for a purple ribbon to tie it on, and she had updated the color of the mask to black with purple trim around the outside and the eyes. The peacock feathers had been renewed and floated softly against any breeze. She also put a charm on them to bring out more of the purple in the feathers' color palette. Her ball gown was just as exquisite as she remembered, and the lace gloves matched the design on the bodice perfectly. She had opted for her favorite Mary Jane heels, since they were low enough for comfort and high enough to make up for the height difference between her and Draco when they opened the ball together. Her makeup was simple, but dramatic. Her eyes were shaded dark so the brown in her eyes stood out against the black of the mask, and her lips were a deep red that had a slight hint of purple in the mix. She put a charm on all her makeup to make sure it was all water-proof and smudge-proof, that way whether she ended up snogging or in tears, she'd be prepared. Her hair was in soft waves and Ginny had styled it to one side, so it fell down across her shoulder and back, leaving one shoulder bare above the corseted bodice.

The girls looked to each other to do a final check, but everyone seemed to have everything in place. They took a moment to take a picture, and then left Hermione's dorm through the stairwell to the Gryffindor common room so Ginny and Luna could meet their dates.

As they descended the stairs, Hermione's heart jumped in her chest. She would finally be meeting her mystery man tonight!


	47. Before the Ball

**Chapter 46**

Draco Malfoy sat at the Slytherin table at lunch time, trying for all the world to keep his chicken salad sandwich down. He was just too nervous to eat today. Tonight would be the masquerade ball celebrating the Seventh Years' final Halloween at Hogwarts, but he had so much riding on the dance tonight that he couldn't get himself to calm down. It wasn't just that he had been in charge of the invitations or that he had to open the dance with the Head Girl; he would also be revealing himself to the mystery girl he'd been talking to for over two months.

If his assumptions were right about her identity, the night could only go two ways. Either he would finally have the girl of his dreams and she would accept him, or she wouldn't believe him and would be impossibly mad. He didn't know which one he'd rather happen at the moment. Of course he wanted to have the fairy tale ending, but if she refused him, it would be simpler, easier. He would be able to go back to his cold hearted self and choose some pure blooded girl to let tag along after him. Didn't he owe it to her to give it a real solid try though? He was so torn between taking the easy way, and doing what would make his heart the happiest. Happiness was not an option that Draco Malfoy was used to.

Blaise waved his hands in front of Draco's eyes, trying to get his attention.

"Oy, mate," he said, snapping Draco out of it. "Have you heard a word I've said?"

Sorry, no," Draco said sheepishly.

"Great, then I guess I'll start over," Blaise said, rolling his eyes. "I was trying to make sure that you're okay with me taking Pansy to the ball."

Draco was shocked, saying, "Why would you want to take her? When has she ever given you the time of day?"

"Well, ever since that day," he lowered his voice, "in the come and go room, she has finally stopped pining after you. I mean, Pansy and I grew up together. She lost her father when she was young, and I never knew mine-"

"Because your mom's a trollop, I know."

"Shut up!" Blaise said, pushing him from across the table. "We grew up together, and I guess I know her better than anyone else. I suppose all that time she spent chasing around after you kept her from owning up to any residual feelings she had about me. When we were kids, I always thought we'd end up together, I just never asked her out because she was all about the Draco show. Now I finally had my chance and she said yes. So are you okay with it?" Blaise finished his speech with an uncharacteristically hopeful look in his eyes.

"Listen mate," Draco said, "Anything that makes you happy is fine with me. Just remember, you and I grew up together too, and I know how terrible you are with women, so don't screw this up by being yourself."

"Says the guy who hasn't had a steady relationship last more than two weeks, ever," Blaise snorted, but he seemed happy with Draco's blessing.

Pansy took that moment to walk up and place a hand on Blaise's shoulder, effectively ending the line of conversation. Draco ignored their conversation about colors and time to meet up before the dance, and looked across the room at Hermione Granger, a habit he'd been quite guilty of lately. She looked happy with her friends, talking about something or another. He wondered if she had told them about their little encounters. _Probably not,_ he thought to himself. _If she had, I'd probably be in the Hospital Wing rather than interning there._

Another set of eyes on him drew Draco's attention, and he looked for their owner. Astoria Greengrass was staring at him from down the Slytherin table. She was just openly staring. It creeped Draco out, so he tried to eat a little more of his sandwich, and ended up settling for finishing his pumpkin juice instead.

Soon a hand on his shoulder made him realize he couldn't just ignore her. Astoria leaned over Draco, and whispered, "So, what's so interesting over at the Gryffindork table?"

"Is this a joke? The answer's always nothing, of course," Draco said with a smirk.

"Hmm…" Astoria looked over him carefully, then said, "You'll do I guess."

"Do? For what?' he asked indignantly.

"To be my date for tonight," she said as if this were the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?" he sputtered. "The famously slutty Astoria Greengrass doesn't have a date for the ball?" He laughed for a moment then added, "You know you can't go without one; you're not old enough."

"Hence my need for a gentleman to accompany me," she said, putting on her best provocative smile.

"I'll pass, thanks," Draco replied coolly. "I already have a date."

"Really?" she asked with disbelief. "I heard your little hag is going with Zabini here?" she jerked a thumb towards Blaise, who had just sent Pansy off to get dressed.

"Back off Greengrass," Blaise muttered angrily.

"Fine, your loss," Astoria said, sweeping a long lock of hair over her shoulder. "I'll find my way there, make no doubt about it."

Draco just stared at her as she walked away. Somehow that body which had held so much sex appeal and allure for him before, just look trashy now. Maybe he had gotten used to the wholesome looks and smoldering appeal of Hermione, but he just wasn't attracted to Astoria anymore.

"Well," Blaise said, "that was awkward."

"Yeah, she's just something else, huh?" Draco said, running a hand through his hair.

"I didn't appreciate her calling Pansy your hag," Blaise said angrily.

"Don't worry Blaise, it was less about insulting Pansy and more about insinuating that I'm gay," Draco said fairly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Blaise said with a laugh. "But, you're the farthest thing from gay."

"Yeah, but I couldn't blame them," Draco said striking a pose, "Boys, Girls, no one can resist my charms."

Blaise snorted into his pumpkin juice, and then said, "Come on mate; let's find something destructive to do until the dance."

xxx

The boys ended up going to the Slytherin common room to play wizard chess, and spent an hour down there before going to Quidditch practice, where Draco was captain and seeker, and Blaise played chaser. After a thorough workout for about two hours, the guys showered, then went back to their respective common rooms to dress for the ball.

In his room, Draco double checked the charm he'd put on his shirt. It seemed to be holding well, and Draco hoped it would match his mystery girl's dress.

He went ahead and changed into his slacks, when he heard Hermione's voice form the bathroom saying to come on in since the door was unlocked. He considered for a moment that he must be talking to someone else, and decided to see who was there.

After a few minutes, he opened the bathroom door to see Ginny standing where he'd expected Hermione to be. Confused, he stepped in farther, and was floored when he saw Hermione dressed in only a towel around her and a towel in her hair.

Her skin was glowing from the bathwater, and he couldn't help but wish he could touch the rivulets of water that littered he shoulders, mimicking the tiny freckles that were splattered there. He had never been attracted to freckles before. What was happening to him? He realized this was the most of Hermione's skin he'd ever seen, and the thought made him smile.

Opting for the gentlemanly route, he said, "Sorry to barge in," but he was unable to keep the satisfied smirk off his face. Hermione stammered and seemed affected by him, which was a new, but not unwelcome emotion on her part.

"Nice seeing you," she blurted, rushing out of the bathroom and slamming the door. _Great_, he thought, _Stuck in a bathroom with a rabid Weasel._

_Nice indeed, Hermione,_ he thought, and Ginny's eyes went to him. He realized he might have said part of that out loud. Instead of commenting, he took out his wand to dry his hair, and the Weaselette flinched. She actually flinched because he lifted his wand!

"Something wrong?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." Ginny said unconvincingly. "Yes. Leave Hermione alone tonight."

"What?" Draco asked seriously, drying his hair with a charm.

"She-she has a date. I know you're messing around with her head, or whatever you're doing, but don't ruin this night for her," Ginny finished.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Draco replied coldly. "I happen to be meeting a lady as well. Do try to keep your nose out of other people's business though, Weaselette. Overprotective is not an attractive look on you." Tousling his hair one more time, he put a holding charm on it and left the bathroom.

He couldn't believe the gall of that girl. Hermione must have told him what happened. Did that mean that she wasn't interested? She seemed interested the other day. He tried to clear his mind of all the worry and bother, and instead turned his attention to getting dressed.

He donned the newly dyed poet shirt, leaving the first couple of buttons undone. He put a few sprits of cologne on, and he remembered what he'd smelled in the bathroom. It had smelled like the love potion in class the other day. What did that mean? Was he attracted to her and the potion knew it, or did he smell her in the potion because he was attracted to her? Questions like that never seemed to find an answer, so Draco just finished getting dressed. He opted for his most comfortable fancy dress shoes, since the Head Boy and Girl had to open the dance, and he'd be on his feet all night.

Sweeping the cape over him, he latched it to one side, so that it covered his right shoulder and exposed his left. That was the customary way to wear it, especially when one was to dance an age-old waltz that required his left arm be free. The final touch to his outfit was his mask. It covered the top half of his face, and was charmed to look like dragon scales, shining in purple green and teal on top of silver.

He looked in the floor length mirror that hung inside his wardrobe. He looked pretty good, if he did say so himself.

He made his way down to the common area, but didn't see any sign of Hermione or her friends. He was a little early, but he went on to the Great Hall to prepare for the dance.


	48. May I Have This Dance?

**A/N: I forgot to say this last time, but thanks to me 200****th**** reviewer: ****pohkeemawn****! You all have made such a great showing in the reviews lately, and the big finish is almost here. I think this will most likely be the last chapter, so I just wanted to say thank you again for your support. I'm sorry if you guys don't like how this ends, but it's the ending I had for this from the very start, so I think I must stay true to that. Thanks again for your continued support.**

**Chapter 47**

Hermione held up the camera for her friends and snapped their picture. They looked very cute in their couples, harry with Ginny, Neville with Luna and Ron with Lavender. She was happy for all of them, but wished she and Jake would have met sooner so she could have a picture with him to remember the night. Oh well, maybe they could take one later.

The seven friends made their way down the grand staircase towards the Great Hall, where the ball would be held. One their way down the stairs, Ron hung back for a moment and grabbed Hermione's hand to get her attention. She pulled away from him out of shock, and he held his hands up quickly in his defense.

"Sorry, I just wanted to say something," Ron said, pulling her back out of earshot. "I'm sorry I've been so crazy lately. I want you to know, all that stuff you said in the Hospital Wing? I heard you. I understand you're not interested and if you want to date someone, you should go for it. You deserve to be happy, and I won't stand in your way."

Hermione smiled at Ron and pulled him into a hug, which for once was not terribly awkward. They caught up with their friends just outside the Great Hall, and the couples all looked at each other happily before entering.

The Great Hall, which normally was impressive with its grandeur, had been transformed into a wonderland of light and sound. Luna and Michael had really outdone themselves. The walkway into the room was lined with two enchanted streams of bubbling water. On the outside of the streams were tall bushes in a labyrinth pattern, perfect for couples to hide in. At the end of the room where the head table normally sat, the dais had been replaced with a large dance floor.

The ceiling of the Great Hall displayed the beauty of the Northern Lights, and there were floating jack-o-lanterns casting flickering light on the dance floor. Hermione found her way to the right side of the dance floor so that she could prepare herself for the first dance. Near where she stood was the string quartet that Astoria and Malcolm had hired. She knew on the other side of the room was a Deejay for later on in the evening.

Hermione paced nervously as she waited for the ball to begin. Little did she know, on the other side of the room, Draco was doing the same thing.

Draco walked back and forth, trying not to mess up his hair by running his hands through it nervously. He kept scanning the room to see if he could find someone in purple, but he couldn't. He only hoped that when Hermione stepped onto the dance floor across from him that she would be the one in the purple ball gown. He fingered the gardenia he held in an open button hole in his shirt. Was the flower for Hermione or did he have a different mystery girl?

Blaise came up behind Draco and patted him on the back. "Don't worry mate, I'm sure she'll be lovely," he said reassuringly.

Draco just gritted his teeth and continued his pacing. A few moments later, there was a tapping noise that made the string quartet stop their tuning.

Professor McGonagall stepped out into the middle of the dance floor and addressed the room, "Welcome Hogwarts' Seventh Years, and their dates, to our Halloween Masquerade Ball. This ball has been a tradition for the Seventh Year students of Hogwarts since its founding. This is our chance to say thank you for your hard work over the years, and to celebrate your achievements. I speak on behalf of the faculty, staff, Head Boy and Girl and prefects when I say we are so proud to see how you've grown."

"And now, without further ado, I present your Heady Boy and Girl to open the ball with a Viennese waltz, Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger.

Hermione stepped up to the edge of the dance floor, opposite from Draco on the other side. Professor McGonagall stepped back and out of the way, and Hermione heard the first strains of the string quartet starting to play.

The Viennese waltz they would be dancing was interesting, in that the first half of the dance required little or no contact. It was more about the subtle flirtation of hands. As the song began, Hermione stepped forward, hands up facing Draco, as she moved toward him across the floor. In the odd lighting, she couldn't see what he was wearing at first, but then realized he had a magnificent cape that reminded her of the one Viktor had worn at the Yule Ball. Draco's cape was much finer though, and it made Hermione want to be wrapped up in it. Then she realized what color his shirt was underneath the cape. Purple.

Draco moved from his end of the dance floor in a similar fashion, struck immediately by Hermione's beauty. He saw her gorgeous ball gown of finest purple, and realized that his assumptions must have been right. She was his mystery girl, he hoped. There was only one way to find out.

Draco and Hermione met in the middle of the dance floor. She curtseyed, and he bowed, plucking the white gardenia out of his buttonhole as he did. When he came up, he levitated the flower toward her, where it affixed itself to her bodice.

Hermione looked down at the flower floating toward her, and gasped when it attached to her. It was a white gardenia, just like the one Jake said he would bring for her. Did that mean… Hermione stared at Draco and almost missed her cue. Placing her hands once more in front of her, she and Draco kept their hands a few inches apart as they turned in a circle.

"Jake?" she asked softly, her voice betraying her with its timidity.

Draco nodded with a smile as they turned the other direction. "Patty?" he asked needlessly.

"Yes," Hermione said with a nervous smile. "I should have known it was you," she commented, as he took her arm and they moved across the floor at a distance.

"I've known it was you for a while," Draco said honestly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked as they whipped around to go the other direction.

"You wanted to be surprised," he said simply, spinning her out from him and then into a standard waltz position with ease.

At this point in the dance, the rest of the room joined in on the dance, giving Hermione and Draco relative privacy.

"I spent this whole week avoiding you," she said, grasping his hand in hers, with her other on his shoulder. "So that I could give Jake a chance." His hand slipped to her waist as they began to move across the dance floor. "I didn't want to get involved with you until I knew who Jake was. Little did I know, I had already fallen for you."

"Really?" Draco asked in hushed tones.

"Yes," Hermione said, raising her hand from his shoulder to touch his face. "I fell for the man that I met through the journal, and I fell for the boy who kissed me through his tears, and took away my pain. I think I can definitely say I've fallen for you, Draco."

He dropped her into a dip, watching as the smooth skin above her corset stretched as her neck stretched gracefully towards the floor. When he pulled her back up, he tugged her closer than before, so her body pressed right up against his. "That's good," he said, "because I've been yours since the moment we kissed. You changed my life, Hermione. You gave me hope that I could be more than what I've been in the past. You gave me the courage to change. I owe you my life."

The two former enemies held each others' gaze, both sets of eyes brimming with happy tears. The heat of their bodies, connected through so many clothes was almost unbearable until something broke between them and they couldn't take the distance any more. Their lips met, and Hermione finally felt the spark that she'd associated with Jake along with the passion she associated with Draco. Draco felt at peace, like he always did when they kissed, like he was more than himself, connected to this beautiful woman who was more than just a pretty face.

They pulled away for a moment, their eyes locked on each others'. "I knew it was you," Hermione said, her lips crashing against his once more.

**THE END**


	49. A Final Note

**A final note:**

**Thank you so much for your support over the course of this story. This has been something that began as a fluffy nonsense story that ended up being a tale 7 years in the making. Let me first of all apologize to those that I abandoned when I first left the story, and then thank those of you who came back to the story, and of course to all the new readers who have discovered it.**

**I think that I will have a lot of trouble abandoning the Hermione and Draco that I've created in my mind for this story, so let me know if anyone thinks I should do a companion, spin off, or sequel.**

**My next task will probably be taking a fan fiction that is hand written in one of my journals and typing it up, then finishing it. It is a Dramione fic that roughly is based off of Beauty and the Beast. If that's something you might be interested in, just add me to your author alert so you don't miss it!**

**I'll also be going back through this story, fixing any errors and removing all the author's notes to make it a little neater, so if it says I've updated, that's just me doing housekeeping, sorry.**

**Thanks again for all your reviews and messages and for adding me to communities and adding my story to your favorites! You guys are the best!**

**Love,**

**Jessy**

**P.S. I added a poll about the sequel to my profile, so let your voice be heard!**


	50. Sequel Preview

**To all my lovely readers, followers and reviewers, I announce the sequel to this fic! It is called **_**Hook, Line and Sinker**_**, and I've included a sneak preview right here:**

**Enjoy!**

Hermione peered up the side of the tall building, squinting against the bright sun. Merlin Hall stood before her, and would soon be her new home. She had just arrived at the St. Augustine School for Advanced Magical Healing. She had finally finished her studies at Hogwarts, and soon she would finish her training and become a full healer.

Now that Harry had finally defeated Lord Voldemort, Hermione felt good about doing something seemingly normal. Of course, when you considered the prestige of St. Augustine's and the level of healing that she would be studying, it really wasn't so normal after all.

A pair of arms grabbed Hermione around the waist and cheek pressed against her neck.

"Hey, baby," she said with a smile.

Draco pressed his lips into her hair near her ear. "We made it," he whispered, sending chills down Hermione's back.


End file.
